All Blacks suffer injury blow on eve of tour opener

The All Blacks recently touched down in Mzansi ahead of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, which kicks off this Friday with a clash against the Stormers in Cape Town.

However, one member of the New Zealand touring party is already heading home after hooker George Bell injured his calf during one of the All Blacks’ first sessions in Cape Town. He will be sidelined for up to six weeks.

Tour captain Codie Taylor is also battling with a calf niggle, and so the All Blacks have now called up Bradley Slater to join Dave Rennie’s squad on Wednesday.

All Blacks and Springboks preparing for four-Test series

While the All Blacks are in action against the Stormers this Friday, the Springboks will warm up for the Test series against their arch-rivals by playing Argentina on Saturday.

The match, which will be hosted at Estadio José Amalfitani, kicks off at 21:10 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

With Springbok stalwarts Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager back from injury, assistant coach Deon Davids was pleased with the boost it offered them in the lock department, saying: “It’s fantastic to have Eben and Lood back, and also the other players who were injured and haven’t played in a while, such as Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) and the other guys. They’re experienced players, and they mean a lot in our system.

“Fortunately, we had a very good build-up to this game at our camp in Johannesburg last week, so this is a fantastic opportunity for them to play, and it is important as we build towards the rest of the season.”

Morne van den Berg also back from injury

Springbok scrumhalf Morne van den Berg, who is also one of the players returning from a spell on the sidelines, was thrilled to return to the Bok squad and said it was a massive privilege to be back.

“The injury was obviously tough, especially with the Boks playing, but it gave me a lot of motivation to work hard to be here,” said Van den Berg.

“I’ve had some incredible people on my side who helped me a lot, and I’m feeling really good.”