South Africa call up key flyhalf Pollard as injury replacement

BORDEAUX, FRANCE : South Africa have called up flyhalf Handre Pollard to their World Cup squad as an injury replacement, significantly strengthening their selection, after injury forced them to leave him out initially, SA Rugby said on Sunday.

Pollard, who helped kick South Africa to World Cup success four years ago, replaces hooker Malcolm Marx, who suffered a serious knee injury in training last week.

South Africa’s coaching team watched Pollard in action for Leicester Tigers in a friendly against Sale Sharks on Friday, deeming him fit enough to return and choosing a proven kicker instead of a replacement hooker.

“We are confident with the cover we have at hooker with Bongi Mbonambi and Deon Fourie, and Marco van Staden has been slotting in the position since our alignment camps in February, so we opted to call up Handre, who has been in our system for years and who was a member of our team in 2019 when we won the World Cup,” said coach Jacques Nienaber in a statement released not long after their 76-0 win over Romania in Bordeaux.

“He’s been working hard to return to full fitness, and we are pleased that he now has some game time under his belt for his club, and this will allow him to slot back into the team.

"We’ll work closely with him in the next week to get him back up to speed and back into the full swing of things, and we have no doubt he’ll step up to the challenge. He’s been here before so he knows the physical and mental demands of the World Cup.”

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)