Springbok and England injury concerns.

South Africa

Injury concerns over Juandre Kruger, Willem Alberts, Patrick Lambie with Zane Kirchner already injured and Frans Steyn getting married on the weekend left some selecion issues for Heyneke Meeyer to ponder.

Juandre Kruger left the field afte he got whiplashed when he hit the hip of Eben Etzebeth late in the second half. It was originally thought that he got a serious neck injury. However he took full part in training on Monday and is fine.

“We took all the precautions with Juandre when he came off in Johannesburg,” said team doctor Craig Roberts at the media briefing afterwards.

“He suffered whiplash but we took him straight to hospital where all the necessary scans were conducted. After a thorough assessment it was found that he is alright and as you saw he participated in training today.”

Patrick Lambie and Alberts has been given until Wednesday to prove their fitness.

“I can’t say at this stage what their chances of playing are. Patrick is quite sore at the moment but with a bit of rest he might improve. If they are not ready by Wednesday they will not play.”

Gio Aplon trained at fullback in the shadow team with Jacques Potgieter working on the flank in the place of Alberts. With Frans Steyn unavailable for the game because he is getting married on Saturday, Meyer looks set to start with Wynand Olivier at inside centre.

Although Joe Pietersen has been called in to join the squad, there was no indication on Monday whether Meyer might do the same for Pietersen’s Stormers teammate Juan de Jongh, with Olivier running the entire training session as the partner to skipper Jean de Villiers. Both will be relied upon heavily by defence coach John McFarland against England as De Villiers is his defence organiser at the back and Olivier was the back who made the most tackles once he came onto the field halfway through the game.

Roberts confirmed that Zane Kirchner, who started at fullback in the first test in Durban, will definitely not be returning to the squad before the end of the series.

“We made a decision last week already that we wouldn’t use him this week,” said the doctor.

“The prognosis was that he would be able to return to the field 10 days from now, which means he just misses out.”

If Lambie and Alberts do not prove their fitness by Wednesday themost likely starting team should look like this:
15. Gio Aplon,
14. JP Pietersen,
13. Jean de Villiers (capt),
12. Wynand Olivier,
11. Bryan Habana,
10. Morne Steyn,
9. Francois Hougaard,
8. Pierre Spies,
7. Jacques Potgieter,
6. Marcell Coetzee,
5. Juandre Kruger,
4. Eben Etzebeth,
3. Jannie du Plessis,
2. Bismarck du Plessis,
1. Beast Mtawarira.

Bench:
Werner Kruger
Adriaan Strauss
Flip v d Merwe
Keegan Daniel
Ruan Pienaar
Bjorn Basson
Joe Pietersen.

The tight five will be the same as for the previous two test, but with Coenie Oosthuizen out injured, Werner Kruger will be a major concern for me, backrow without Willem alberts will have no where near the physicality and Pierre Spies will have to man up. I hope Jaques Potgieter makes an impact, but we surely do miss our big men.

Happy for Aplon if Lambie doesn't make it, Wynand Olivier will reduce our options on attack as the man simply doesn't know how to pass.

I am hoping Mvovo gets a bench spot rather than Bjorn Basson.

England.

Ben Youngs was replaced during the second test but only after the match a shoulder injury came to light.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster said: "He didn't present his injury until the end of the game. When we got back, he was struggling to move it. From our point of view, he was excellent for us in the second Test. He really played well and he is devastated."

Lancaster added: "But opportunities present themselves for other players - Lee Dickson and Danny Care - and we have got Lee's brother Karl winging in from Alicante. Karl was somewhere in Spain but we have managed to get him to Heathrow and he is on his way now. It won't be any disruption. Both Danny and Lee know the game plans."

Chris Robshaw is also not available due to a broken thumb.

"Where Chris has exceeded everyone's expectations is in his ability to manage the responsibility of being England captain, captaining his club side to the Premiership final and still playing tremendously well at the same time," Lancaster said. "That is what makes his season so special.

"We were a completely new team that had 15 new players in and had just come out of a World Cup where there was a lot of upset about things that hadn't gone well. He has been a massive part in galvanising the team to become the squad it is now.

"He does that but, more importantly, he leads by example on the field and in training. He provides a great role model for young players coming into the team."

Lancaster explained Robshaw was devastated to miss out on the final Test of the South Africa tour, but chose not to risk further injury to his skipper.

"No player, when they are captain of their country, wants to be told they can't play in the final Test. But we have got to respect the specialist advice. If he gets another kick on it, it will displace and then it will require an operation.

"We don't want to compromise his well-being by putting him in with a fracture which could displace and then keep him out for three months as opposed to four weeks," said Lancaster.

Lancaster has frther intimated that there are test places up for grab and the midweek team that will face the South African Barbarians Northern division on tuesday has all to play for.

"We talked today about finishing the tour to South Africa strongly this week and these players have a great opportunity to do this in the second of two midweek matches," said coach Stuart Lancaster.

"There are still selection decisions to be made for Saturday, but the players' focus will be on putting in a strong cohesive team performance and building on the positives from last week."

Seems both England and South Africa have a lot of injury concerns for the last test.

What injuries do England have Zander?

If you can provide me a link I will add it to the OP.

Ok there are a number of different links:

Youngs and Lowe have both been replaced but their replacements won't be in the test team.
http://www.espnscrum.com/england-tour-2012/rugby/story/165860.html

Robshaw is out with a broken finger.
http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/story/165901.html

That's as far as I know at the moment.

Juandre Kruger trained with team yesterday at Grey High. His neck is fine according to Doc.

Jacques Potgieter was training in Alberts place. He was playing EP Kings Vodacom Cup last year!

Wynand in place of Frans Steyn. He should be okay in defence against England. Hope he doesn't play against NZ.

Big losses in Lambie & Steyn. If Alberts sits out this one it will be even worse, surely the man of the series thus far.

Really pleased for Potgeiter if he gets capped though. I hate it given he is a bulle but its pleasing to know that this lad was playing Vodacom Cup rugby last year for EP and given he's already 26 he must have thought his time was up.
I know guys who have been playing higher rugby than him in SA (prior to his move to the Bulls last year) and left for Europe to seek a career as they thought they'd never make it at home.

The side is signficantly weakened with Frans & Lambie out though.... 2 of SA's 3 kicking options. Its now all on Morne now and he won't have the luxury of altitude to bury the opposition into submission.

Aplon is a safe pair of hands to replace Lambie. Decent in defence and a reasonable kicker... ENG have to challenge him though.... they should play Flood & Farrell together at 10 & 12 to try and win the territorial battle.

With Morne & Maisiekind at 10 & 12, ENG should send Haskell & Tuilagi down their channel all game.... Morne is the weak link in that chain.

The result looks a little less clear now. ENG injuries are far less troublesome... Care is as good if not better than Youngs... Haskell is a decent replacement for Robshaw... added to this he has played these guys all season.... his knowledge will be invaluable.

fa0019 Care is not better than Youngs. I'm sorry but he just isn't. He's older and more experienced playing a similar style but he lacks Youngs explosive attacking abilities and instinct for finding a gap. Youngs also puts himself about more in defence with considerably more aggression.

Haskell lacks brains but should be the logical replacement for Robshaw. England will gain in attack but lose in defence./