Junior Boks lose another skipper

Junior Bok captain William Small-Smith will miss the Junior World Championships Final against New Zealand because of injury.

The hard-running outside centre injured knee ligaments in his team's 35-3 defeat of Argentina in their semifinal at Newlands on Sunday and has been ruled out of all rugby for the next three months.

Small-Smith took over the captaincy from injured flank Wiaan Liebenberg for the clash against England last week, and kept the leadership role in the semifinals, with Liebenberg playing off the bench.

Maties wing Dean Hammond has been called up as a replacement and coach Dawie Theron said that he should be able to fit in quite quickly given the fact that he was in South Africa’s original squad for the tournament, before pulling out with a hamstring injury.

"We are again in a very fortunate position that we can bring in a player that has been with the team for a long time and can slot in immediately.

"We feel for William, as he was a real stand-out and proved a very inspirational leader, but injuries are part of rugby and we can only wish him a speedy recovery," added Theron.

The other injury concern is utility back Paul Jordaan, who has a hamstring strain.

Theron said a final decision on him would be made later in the week following a fitness test.