Springboks statement: Pollard and Am's Championship-ending injuries

Jacques Nienaber’s Springboks will finish out their Rugby Championship campaign without fly-half Handre Pollard and centre Lukhanyo Am following their respective knee injuries in last Saturday’s round three loss to the Wallabies in Adelaide.

Pollard and Am were left out of the much-changed Springboks XV named for this Saturday’s rematch with Australia in Sydney, coach Nienaber explaining at his team announcement that an update on the injury situation would likely be provided on Wednesday.

This has now happened and it is bad news for Pollard and Am as they will return to their respective clubs, Leicester Tigers and Cell C Sharks, for further medical advice, ruling them out of the Springboks’ round five and six matches versus Argentina in Buenos Aires on September 17 and in Durban on September 24.

A Springboks statement read: “Fly-half Handre Pollard and centre Lukhanyo Am will return to their clubs for further medical assessments after being ruled out of Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship clash against Australia in Sydney.

“Both players suffered knee injuries against Australia in Adelaide last weekend, which prompted the decision to send them back to the Leicester Tigers and Cell C Sharks respectively for further medical advice. Elton Jantjies (hand) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (knee), meanwhile, will remain in camp, as they are expected to recover sufficiently from their injuries for the last two matches of the team’s campaign.”

Springboks coach Nienaber said no replacements would be called up at this stage as they have sufficient cover within the squad. However, if the need arises, they will call on reinforcements. “It’s always unfortunate to lose players in a squad, but this opens the door for other players to step in and showcase what they can do in those positions,” he said.

“We will now have 32 players in camp and with Elton expected to recover for the matches against Argentina and players such as Andre (Esterhuizen) and Jesse (Kriel) and Frans (Steyn) all being capable centres, we are well covered.”

Pollard was set to arrive at Leicester at the end of the Championship and would have been expected to make his Gallagher Premiership debut at some stage in October following his high-profile signing from Montpellier as the replacement for England’s George Ford, who had left for Sale. Am had also made a club move in 2022, switching from the Kobe Steelers in Japan to the URC Sharks.