Botha fronts up to the media after his Rugby World Cup was ended by a recurrence of an Achilles injury © Getty Images

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Matches: Australia 11 - 9 South Africa

Players/Officials: Bakkies Botha

Tournaments/Tours: Rugby World Cup

Teams: South Africa

Springboks lock Bakkies Botha is determined to bounce back from the Achilles injury that has curtailed his Rugby World Cup campaign.

The 76-Test veteran started the pool stage victories over Fiji and Namibia but separate Achilles and hamstring injuries kept him out of the matches against Wales and Samoa. He had hoped to return to the fray for Sunday's quarter-final clash with Australia but was struck down with a fresh Achilles injury in training yesterday and has since been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.

The 32-year-old is the second Springbok player to be forced out of the World Cup this week following centre Frans Steyn who returned home on Tuesday having suffered a shoulder injury during the victory over Samoa last Friday.

Botha, who is due to join up with French club Toulon next month at the start of a three-year deal, is adamant that this latest injury blow does not spell the end of his international honours. "This is definitely not the end of my Test career as far as I am concerned," he said. "I'll be aiming to give 100% to Toulon to help them get into the Heineken Cup and I'll still be available for South Africa next year. I still have the desire to play for my country and that will be there for as long as I play. It's a special thing to pull on this jersey and that hunger has not left me."

The Blue Bulls stalwart made his Test debut against France in 2002 and was appearing at his third World Cup - having collected a winner's medal at the 2007 tournament. "I knew straight away that something wasn't right," he said of the latest Achilles injury that affected his other ankle. "I knew I wasn't going to be 100 percent and with great players like Victor [Matfield], Danie [Rossouw] and Johann [Muller] all fit there was no need for me to hang around and be a distraction to the team."

Botha also revealed it had been tough to admit his World Cup was over and urged the rest of the squad to make the most of their opportunity. "I am a person who normally keeps my emotions out of sight but it was emotional to talk to the team this morning and tell them I would be going home," he said. "I told the team to cherish every moment of their time in the green and gold because you never know when it is going to be your last.

"I'm very disappointed - after all the hard work that has been put in over the past few months - but it's not about me, it's about the team now and there's still a big job to do. I'll be sitting at home with my family on Sunday with a tear on my cheek as the team takes on the Wallabies. But we can't stop here - there are still three games left to play."

Meanwhile, winger JP Pietersen successfully completed a fitness test on his injured knee at Thursday's training run and was declared fit to take his place on the right wing.