Four Springboks in doubt for the end-of-year tour

Four Tests for the Springboks in November will form part of the conclusion to the Nations Championship tournament, which will see Rassie Erasmus’ team face Italy, France and Ireland as well as one final opponent at the end of November.

It will be interesting to see what selection options Erasmus opts for when it comes to these fixtures, while the medical staff will need to weigh up a few concerning injuries.

Recently, the Sharks confirmed that Eben Etzebeth had “lower limb injury” and that they were now “awaiting a further medical examination to determine the extent of the injury”.

Although there have been no further updates since then, it does seem that Etzebeth could be set for another spell on the sidelines, and could quite possibly be in doubt for the end-of-year tour.

The Springboks have also missed the services of RG Snyman and Kwagga Smith throughout this season due to serious knee injuries, and neither player is expected to be fit in time to return as soon as November.

Adding to this, it’s also likely that Cheslin Kolbe could be in doubt for the tour after he broke his jaw during Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.

The Springboks are set to regroup at the end of October before heading abroad for their first of four Tests to conclude the Nations Championship.

Springboks’ end-of-year fixtures

• Saturday 7 November: Italy v Boks
  • Venue: Allianz Stadium, Turin
  • Kick off: 16:00
• Friday 13 November: France v Boks
  • Venue: Stade de France, Paris
  • Kick off: 22:00
• Saturday 21 November: Ireland v Boks
  • Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
  • Kick off: 19:30
• 27–29 November: Finals Weekend
  • Venue: Twickenham Stadium, London
  • Kick off: TBC

How does the finals weekend work?

For the Nations Championship, across remaining pool matches in November, teams from the southern and northern hemisphere will continue to compete against each other. Points earned from those matches determine a final one to six ranking for each hemisphere’s table, and the finals weekend pairs each team against their direct equivalent rank from the opposite conference.

So, during the finals weekend, teams play a seventh and final match against their exact equivalent seed from the opposite hemisphere (e.g. sixth vs sixth, fifth vs fifth, down to the first vs first Grand Final).