South African Rugby
Burger blow for Springboks
ESPNscrum Staff
November 1, 2010
Schalk Burger looks to evade a tackle, New Zealand v South Africa, Tri-Nations, Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand, July 10, 2010
Schalk Burger will miss the Springboks' forthcoming tour with a broken rib © Getty Images
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South Africa have been dealt a double injury blow with experienced flanker Schalk Burger and rookie centre Juan de Jongh both ruled out of the Grand Slam tour of Britain and Ireland.

Scans on the duo this morning revealed that injuries sustained during Saturday's Currie Cup final were worse than initially feared. Burger, capped 63 times for the Springboks, has a broken rib, while the six-capped De Jongh suffered a hairline fracture to his left ankle.

Centre Adrian Jacobs, who was added to the squad as a precautionary measure yesterday when it was discovered that another midfielder, Jean de Villiers, had a groin problem, has now been officially named as a replacement.

Burger's place goes to the Bulls forward Deon Stegmann, bringing the number of uncapped players to seven, while another player from the Pretoria franchise, fullback Zane Kirchner, has also been added to the 30-man list following the withdrawal of scrum-half Ricky Januarie.

The world champions begin their tour with a clash against the Irish in Dublin on Saturday, and coach Peter de Villiers said, "It's a blow to lose players but we've rolled with the punch and already moved on. We trained without them this morning and we already had contingency plans in mind which we've begun to put into operation.

"It's not an ideal situation but we've all got on with our jobs and are focused only on the players that we have in camp."

Flanker Willem Alberts (calf), hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle (flu) and centre De Villiers all took no part in either of the two field sessions earlier today. The spate of injuries means the team announcement for the Test at the Aviva Stadium has now been delayed until Thursday.

"We'll give the players some more time in rehab before we confirm the team," added De Villiers. "We have the line-up in mind but want to make sure everyone's okay before making the announcement."

The latest withdrawals take to 13 the number of senior players who have been forced out of the tour by injury. The others that are unfit are captain John Smit, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Olivier, Andries Bekker, Fourie du Preez, Heinrich Brussow, JP Pietersen, Gurthro Steenkamp, Butch James and BJ Botha.

South Africa squad for end-of-year tour of Great Britain and Ireland:

Backs: Gio Aplon, Bjorn Basson, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Francois Hougaard, Adi Jacobs, Elton Jantjies, Ricky Januarie, Patrick Lambie, Lwazi Mvovo, Ruan Pienaar, Frans Steyn, Morne Steyn.

Forwards: Willem Alberts, Bakkies Botha, Keegan Daniel, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Alistair Hargreaves, Ryan Kankowski, Victor Matfield, Tendai Mtawarira, Coenie Oosthuizen, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Deon Stegmann, Adriaan Strauss, CJ van der Linde, Flip van der Merwe.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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