De Villiers confirms commitment to Smit
He said ‘Luckily I’m the coach. For me its not as black and white as some people would believe. There’s more to team selection. If every player understands his role, that’s the important thing. If you look at how comfortable Wales were against our starting line-up it was important that we had something up our sleeve on the bench. We look at the cohesion of the team and what every player can bring. There are definitely some attributes Bismarck has that John doesn’t have. We’ll look at what we want to achieve in any given match and make selection decisions accordingly.’
Jean and Victor out for at least 10 days
Jean de Villiers and Victor Matfield will be sidelined for 10 days following injuries sustained in Sunday’s Test against Wales. Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts confirmed on Monday that De Villiers suffered a grade one rib cartilage injury, while Matfield felt his hamstring tighten up in the second half. Both players have subsequently been ruled out of the next game against Fiji.
Lawes cited
England lock Courtney Lawes will face a disciplinary hearing for allegedly intentionally driving his knee into Argentina hooker Mario Ledesma’s head. If found guilty he should face a lengthy ban. What are the chances that the IRB will deprive their beloved England of one of their best players? Not likely!
Ioane out of the World Cup?
Wallaby winger Digby Ioane has a fractured finger and isn’t likely to feature in the pool stage of the World Cup again. He is expected to be available to play again later in the tournament although the exact timelines on when he might be able to return will not be known until after the joint has been operated on, and his rehabilitation from the injury has begun.
Barnes could’ve called on the TMO
The IRB has confirmed that the referee may call for TMO assistance if he is unsure as to whether a penalty, drop goal or conversion has been successful. In Sunday’s Test between South Africa and Wales, James Hook’s first-half penalty attempt appeared to be over, but the on-field officials decided that the kick had missed.