Goosen’s knee looks good

Johan Goosen should be fit to take his place on the Bok bench for the second Test against Wales in Nelspruit.

The 21-year-old came off the bench in the 70th minute of the Test against Wales in Durban, only to leave the field in the 74th after taking a knock to his knee.

'It's a little concerning that it's the same knee that he had reconstructed, but he's gone for scans and everything looks good,' said Bok team doctor Craig Roberts. 'It's actually settled down quite nicely, so we'll be able to take a decision on his participation this weekend later this week.'

Bakkies Botha, who left the field in the 41st minute after suffering inflammation of his Achilles and calf muscles, should also be fit to play.

Roberts revealed that the Boks would reduce their training workload this week.

'The average number of minutes the ball is in play for Test matches is between 30 and 32 minutes … last Saturday the ball was in play for 39 minutes,' he said. 'The work rate of players was extremely high and for that reason we'll cut back on the time we spend training this week. It'll still be high intensity, but with such a big load, we'll reduce the time on the field.'

Jannie du Plessis and Duane Vermeulen were both told to sit out training on Monday due to the amount of rugby they have played this year.

Photo: Barry Aldworth/BackpagePix

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