Damian Willemse faces a race against time ahead of next week's Rugby Championship Test at FNB Stadium after suffering a hamstring injury during the Springboks' 33-26 victory over the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday.
Willemse went down just before the half-time hooter, with the Springboks leading 24-14 at the time, and was replaced by Manie Libbok. Rassie Erasmus was unequivocal on his prognosis after the match: "Damian Willemse? He injured his hamstring, he's out for next week."
The result levels the four-Test series at 1-1.
Erasmus also addressed a front-row selection that raised eyebrows when Deon Fourie, Gerhard Steenekamp and Thomas du Toit were named to start ahead of the expected combination of Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche and Wilco Louw, who were shifted to the bench. The decision was driven by a weather forecast that predicted a wet night at DHL Cape Town Stadium — a forecast that ultimately proved wrong.
"We thought it was going to be wet, and that's why we took this front row down," Erasmus explained. "We were always going to use two front rows, but then, close to the game, the weather said it was going to be dry, and then we thought a front row that was a little bit lighter would be better on the dry field."