Veteran lock De Jager back in Bok squad to face Argentina

The Springboks have included experienced lock Lood de Jager in their squad for their decisive Rugby Championship match against Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday.

This is after Franco Mostert did not travel with the group to London due to a family bereavement.

De Jager was injured in the record 43-10 victory over New Zealand in Wellington earlier in September but has been passed fit to play.

Coach Rassie Erasmus will name his team on Tuesday.

“We all feel deeply for Franco and wish him strength during this challenging time, and we’ll support him as well as we can,” Erasmus said.

“Fortunately, Lood has recovered from his injury, and his experience and leadership will be valuable in such an important week for the team.”

Defending champions SA are in pole position as they seek to retain the Rugby Championship title.

Their bonus-point 67-30 win over Argentina in Durban last Saturday put them on 15 points at the top of the table, followed by New Zealand (14), Australia (11) and their South American opponents (9), who are out of the running.

Australia and New Zealand meet in Perth earlier on Saturday, after which the Springboks will know exactly what is required to win the competition.

Argentina have been forced into two changes to the squad for their match against SA, with Tomas Albornoz and Gonzalo Garcia ruled out through injury.

Gonzalo Bertranou and Nicolas Roger have been summoned to join up with the rest of the squad in London, the Argentine Rugby Union said.

Albornoz returned from a hand injury and scored a try after coming on as a second-half replacement in Saturday’s 67-30 defeat by the Springboks in Durban.

However, the flyhalf is injured again, while scrumhalf Garcia sits out after suffering a concussion when his teammate Guido Petti fell on him late in the game at Kings Park.

Meanwhile, Will Skelton’s return to the Australia camp has come a week too late for Wallabies fans, but the France-based lock hopes to convert Bledisloe pain into Rugby Championship joy against New Zealand in Perth.

Skelton missed the 33-24 defeat by the All Blacks at Eden Park last Saturday, having committed to a Top 14 match between La Rochelle and Toulon that ended up being cancelled when the stadium was flooded by heavy rain.

With Australia’s Eden Park setback handing the Bledisloe Cup to New Zealand for another year, Wallabies fans wondered what might have been had Skelton, one of their most important players, been available.

The 33-year-old lock said he and the Wallabies’ team management had looked at all options before deciding against a late dash to Auckland.

“I love playing for Australia and, again, I do love playing for La Rochelle as well. We try and make it work when it can,” he told reporters on Monday.

“We want to make everyone in Australia proud of what we do and how we play footy, so the Bledisloe might be gone, but we’re definitely putting everything we can into winning this Rugby Championship Test.”

Reuters