Springbok prop Ox Nche will be ready to face the All Blacks in the Greatest Rivalry Tour, as some fears of a long-term knee injury were allayed by coach Rassie Erasmus on Monday.
Nche left the field after 10 minutes, and Erasmus said after the game that the injury “looked bad” but the team would wait for scans to be done before making a final decision.
The fact that Nche would only miss Scotland, Wales and the friendly against Argentina is a good thing, and to be honest, Nche may not have played all the games in any case as Erasmus is set to do a lot of rotation among the squad this season.
It means that along with flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Morne van den Berg, Nche is set to return to training before the start of the All Black tour, and Erasmus can look forward to having a number of stars available.
The most-capped Bok, Eben Etzebeth, will not return for the next few weeks as the Boks play it conservatively with his concussion issues and will continue to look at the medical advice before bringing him back to contact action.
Etzebeth is not expected to play in the incoming Nations Championship matches.
And the Boks may get Franco Mostert back as well by the time they head to Buenos Aires for the friendly against Los Pumas while Lood de Jager may well play against Wales.
“So I think on Eben, we will give him proper time,” Erasmus said at the press conference, “He had a concussion, and he has a bit of a history of concussions, so I don't think Eben will play in these incoming matches.
“I think we're all targeting Argentina for that (his return). The same for Sous (Mostert) while Lood may be back next week. I think he's closer than the others. Ethan (Hooker) will be ready next week and will be available.
“Ox, Sacha and Krappies (van den Berg) will be ready about three weeks before New Zealand.”
Good news is that captain Siya Kolisi should be ready to face Wales next week as his hamstring strain is healing well.