Serfontein blow for Boks

The Bulls centre will return to Pretoria at the weekend to see a specialist and is out of the three-Test Ireland series.

South Africa meet the Irish at Newlands next Saturday (June 11), Ellis Park (June 18) and Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (June 25).

Bok coach Allister Coetzee, addressing a media briefing at the team's training base in Stellenbosch on Friday, revealed that Serfontein had experienced "a pain" in his wrist during the week.

Scans on Friday revealed the fracture.

Should he be declared unavailable, as expected, he will not be replaced in the squad.

Coetzee said he has enough midfield cover in the team.

"Losing a player like Serfontein is a setback, said Coetzee. "You would always like your best players available. But it's an opportunity again for some other players.

"We are covered with what we have at the moment, so I won't make any rush decisions. JP Pietersen has played centre before and Patrick Lambie has played there."

In other injury news, Coetzee said that Elton Jantjies and Lionel Mapoe will be ready for next weekend's first Test at Newlands.

Mapoe was not involved in a few training sessions this week after picking up a slight muscle injury, while Jantjies' recovery from a fractured finger seems to have gone faster than expected.

While the Springboks have suffered a few injuries this week, it is not as bad as what Ireland have suffered this week.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt lost the services of Jonathan Sexton, Luke Fitzgerald and Dave and Rob Kearney all to injury. They were already without Sean O'Brien, Cian Healy and Tommy Bowe for the three-Test series.

Despite Ireland losing a few of their star players, Coetzee believes they will still pose a huge challenge for his team

"When you lose players, it could be the start for a new star - it is a great opportunity for the next guy coming in. 

"When you play international rugby for your country you should be prepared for that. It could happen to us as well and we should be prepared for that.

"In no way does that diminish the strength and quality of the Irish side that will come to South Africa," Coetzee added.

By Warren Fortune

@rugby365com