Fresh off an impressive comeback victory over the All Blacks in round three of The Rugby Championship, the Springboks are reportedly facing two key injuries ahead of round two.
Trailing for 67 minutes, the World Champions showed their big-match temperament to methodically work their way back into the contest before a late Grant Williams try gave them the lead.
In the end, claiming a 31 – 27 victory at Ellis Park to complete a third consecutive victory over their biggest rivals, the Boks put one hand on the trophy ahead of their rematch in Cape Town next weekend.
Coming into the round, Rassie Erasmus’s side was already facing somewhat of an injury crisis, most notably in the secondrow, with RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Lood de Jager and Salmaan Moerat all out.
Adding further insult to injury, scrumhalf Faf de Klerk remains unavailable, whilst hooker Malcolm Marx who played in round three, is coming off a leg injury he sustained against Ireland in July.
As focus shifts from Johannesburg to Cape Town, the Boks look certain to be without talismanic captain Siya Kolisi and star winger Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Discussing his skipper’s injury, Erasmus said, “To me, it looks like a fracture.
“The doctor will have to take a look, I am not a doctor, but he doesn’t normally look like that.”
For Vodacom Bulls star Arendse, he departed the action he departed earlier in the fixture with a concussion ruling him out of this weekend’s match.
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