Bok blow as Handre Pollard is set to miss Rugby Championship
Flyhalf ruptured his ligament
South Africa’s flyhalf Handre Pollard faces “several months” on the sidelines after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligaments while playing for French Top14 side Montpellier on Friday.
The 2019 World Cup winner was carried off the field on a stretcher during the 41-17 loss to Racing 92 and scans have now revealed the severity of the injury.
“The club confirms the absence for several months of Handre Pollard, victim of a ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments. We wish him a quick recovery,” Montpellier said in a statement yesterday.
It rules the first-choice Bok flyhalf out of the Rugby Championship that is scheduled to be played in Australia from November 7 to December. 12, and will significantly cut his preparation time for the British and Irish Lions tour to SA that starts next July.
Pollard’s control at flyhalf is key to the Boks’ game-plan but his injury will provide his deputy in the team, Elton Jantjies, a chance to stake a claim for the number 10 jersey against the Lions.
It is the second time Pollard has been sidelined with a serious knee injury having missed the entire 2016 season with a similar complaint.
Meanwhile, the head of the New Zealand players’ union said yesterday he would be surprised if any player had already decided to withdraw from the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship squad due to concerns about travelling during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The All Blacks will spend at least eight weeks in Australia for the southern hemisphere tournament against the Wallabies, Springboks and Pumas and will then have to go through two weeks of isolation upon their return.
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) had said on Friday they would support any player who decides to opt out for family reasons, and local media reported that several had indicated they might not want to spend that much time away. Radio New
Zealand said several first-time fathers and others with young children had expressed concerns. - Reuters