South Africa have been hit with a huge double injury blow with both captain Siya Kolisi and fellow back row Pieter-Steph du Toit ruled out of their second meeting with Australia.
The Springboks are reeling from an opening round defeat in the Rugby Championship, with the defending champions squandering a 22-0 advantage by conceding 38 consecutive points as the Wallabies romped to a stunning win.
Kolisi sustained a knee injury just before half time in the clash in Johannesburg, while Du Toit was later taken off and failed a head injury assessment.
The Springboks skipper faces three or four weeks on the sidelines, and Du Toit must serve a minimum mandatory stand-down period of 12 days.
Their absence compounds a number of injury issues for head coach Rassie Erasmus, with wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe also set to miss the second round meeting between the two sides in Cape Town.
The return to full fitness of Cheslin Kolbe, likely to take one of the pair’s places in the back three, is therefore welcome, while centre Damian de Allende is also back in contention to start.
Erasmus, though, will be forced to rethink his back row having seen his side thoroughly bested at the breakdown by Australia at Ellis Park.
“They gave us shots there,” the Springboks coach admitted. “Siya hurt his knee about five minutes from half time and shortly after that Marco [van Staden’s] mouthguard pinged which meant he needed to be assessed. Then Kwagga had to come on, then Pieter[-Steph du Toit] had to go off concussed. [The Wallabies] were really good at the breakdown – and legally so. They really had our number there.”
Defeat in Johannesburg saw South Africa tumble to third in the World Rugby rankings as New Zealand took top spot for the first time in four years after their win over Argentina.
Australia will be without veteran prop James Slipper (concussion) and wing Dylan Pietsch (broken jaw) as they look to engineer a third straight victory having ended the British and Irish Lions series with a win in Sydney.
