Uncapped Brumbies prop Blake Schoupp has been rushed to South Africa after Wallabies co-captain James Slipper suffered a knee injury at training on Tuesday.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Eddie Jones would name Slipper on his team sheet on Thursday but a final decision on his participation wouldn’t be made until closer to kickoff against the Springboks in Pretoria (Sunday 1.05am AEST).
Angus Bell and Matt Gibbon are the other looseheads on tour but Bell hasn’t played since re-injuring his foot in the opening round of Super Rugby Pacific.
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Slipper’s absence would therefore be a major blow against the strong scrummaging world champions and would leave his co-captain Michael Hooper with an extra leadership burden in the Rugby Championship opener.
The team is due to be named around 5pm AEST.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, moved to quash claims the Springboks were disrespecting the Wallabies by sending nearly a whole team of leading players to New Zealand instead of fielding them at Loftus Versfeld.
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“I can tell you we don’t disrespect them… we want proper preparation,” Erasmus said.
“We have been preparing for three weeks for Australia. It’s more respect for the competition and not a lack of respect for Australia.
“We wouldn’t have a chance against New Zealand if we arrive there on a Tuesday next week, have one training session, and play them after a side like Australia. I’m pretty sure it will be a very competitive match on Saturday (local time) and Eddie will get that.”
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Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber was forced to make his own late change with prop Steven Kitshoff replacing Ox Nche, who suffered an injury to his pectoral muscle at training on Tuesday.
Nche is expected to be out of action for several weeks.
“It’s never ideal to lose a player to injury days before an important Test match, but unfortunately it’s part of the game,” Nienaber said.
“We are particularly sad for Ox because he’s been working very hard in the last few months and making a great contribution on and off the field.
“We’ve always emphasised the importance of being adaptable as a team and that will be particularly important this season.
“We are fortunate to have such depth at our disposal. We’ve been tracking between 50 and 60 players in the last few seasons with an eye on the World Cup, so we know what talent we have at our disposal.”
SPRINGBOKS (15-1): Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie, Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Manie Libbok, Cobus Reinach, Duane Vermeulen (c), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marco van Staden, Marvin Orie, Jean Kleyn, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff
Reserves: Joseph Dweba, Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Evan Roos, Deon Fourie, Grant Williams, Damian Willemse
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