The Springboks look set to be without Kwagga Smith for the July Test series after the loose forward suffered a tendon injury while playing in Japan.
Smith was part of both Springbok teams that won the World Cup in Japan in 2019 and France in 2023, coming off the bench in the final against the All Blacks in Paris.
The 30-year-old captains Japan League One side Shizuoka Blue Revs, who announced on Friday that their skipper had suffered an adductor tendon rupture in the 13 January match against Cheslin Kolbe’s Suntory Sungoliath.
Smith is set to be out for the next five months, putting him in a race against time to be fit for South Africa’s series against Ireland and Portugal in July.
Fellow double World Cup champions Jesse Kriel (thumb) and Faf de Klerk (knee) have also been sidelined after undergoing surgery, but Kriel is expected to be available for the July Tests.
Photo: MARTIN BUREAU / AFP