Rassie ’80 to 90 percent certain’ Cheslin will be ready

Springbok attacking kingpin Cheslin Kolbe was one of three players who did not train with the rest of the squad when the players returned from their two day rest on Friday but coach Rassie Erasmus is confident he will be ready for next week’s World Cup quarterfinal.

Kolbe wasn’t considered for the final Pool game against Canada here in Kobe on Tuesday because of the ankle injury that forced him off in the final minutes against Italy. It isn’t a serious injury but Erasmus admitted there is a slight element of doubt.

“Cheslin still has that ankle injury that ruled him out of selection consideration for the previous game and can’t train at present,” said Erasmus after the Boks returned to training after a two day break on Friday morning.

“At the moment he wouldn’t be available to play but hopefully on Monday he will be back in training. I am 80 to 90 percent certain that he will be available for the quarterfinal.”

The other man down at the moment is scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, who picked up a slight hamstring injury playing as a replacement against Canada.

“Herschel has a slight hamstring strain so we rested him (from training) as a precaution. Obviously I am slightly nervous as Herschel is one of three scrumhalves here and of course it is a very important position.”

PIENAAR COULD BE IN THE MIX

Erasmus confirmed that should there be an injury at scrumhalf, the impressive Cheetahs veteran Ruan Pienaar will be in the mix to fly out as a replacement. It was thought that Pienaar retired from international rugby a few seasons ago but Erasmus said that he is available for World Cup selection should he be required.

Erasmus was adamant though that Jantjies’ condition wasn’t too concerning.

“Herschel isn’t going home, definitely not. It isn’t even a grade 1 strain,” said the coach.

Another player who did not train was loose-forward Francois Louw but Erasmus attributed that to the wear and tear that Louw had been put through as he has either been a starter or on the bench in every game played so far at the World Cup.

“Flo has just got a few bumps and bruises. One knee is swollen a bit. The Canada game was game four for him and he has just got to that age where he needs to be managed carefully. He will be fine, we are just managing him differently at this point.”

The Boks don’t know who they will be playing yet and Typhoon Hagibis, the large weather system bearing down on Japan and set to make landfall on Saturday, is making the identity of their opponents even more uncertain. But what they do know is that because the New Zealand game against Italy scheduled for Toyota City on Saturday has been cancelled, they will definitely finish second in Pool B.

PLENTY OF TIME TO PREPARE

That means that the Boks will be playing their quarterfinal next Sunday, meaning that the South Africans still have plenty of time to prepare. They’re in the fortunate position of being able to sit back and see what unfolds while their likely opponents either stress it out having to win with something to spare (Ireland) or face the uncertainty of not knowing whether they will be playing their final pool game or not (Japan and Scotland).

Although there was a noticeable intensification in the early afternoon, the effects of the approaching typhoon weren’t being felt in Kobe when the Boks trained at the home of the Kobelco Steelers club team on Friday morning. There is a strong chance that they will be forced to train indoors on Saturday while a scheduled media conference has been postponed to Sunday due to the advice for people to stay indoors while Hagibis passes.

“The typhoon isn’t affecting us too much,” said Erasmus. “It won’t have any effect in terms of what we planned for today, then on Sunday we have the day off and then we move to Tokyo. Tomorrow (Saturday) we have a split session which we can do indoors if the weather is too bad.”