Injuries are the curse of modern rugby, but no team is immune

The nature of rugby, with its manic physical intensity and brutal, confrontational demands means that rugby teams are rarely, if ever at full strength.

The Bulls played the United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final last weekend without Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Marcell Coetzee. And during the match they lost the influential Willie le Roux to concussion.

The Boks won Rugby World Cup 2023 without Lukhanyo Am, Lood de Jager and Malcolm Marx, while Bongi Mbonambi was hobbled in the third minute of the final.

Injuries have always been a factor in rugby. In the modern game, however, with more and more rugby, played at an increasingly higher speed and physicality, injuries are more ubiquitous.

Kurt-Lee Arendse is one of the RWC 2023 winners who is currently injured. (Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images)

Shorn of talent

The blight of injuries has hit Ireland hard.

The Six Nations champions and second-ranked team in the world arrive in South Africa next week, for a two-Test series against the world champions shorn of some supreme players.

Coach Andy Farrell named his 35-man touring party on Tuesday, stacked with talent, experience and sprinkled with some new faces. But the real story of the squad was about who was not coming.

Top of that list is scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park. The brilliant halfback who has consistently rivalled France’s Antoine Dupont in terms of his influence and impact on a game, will not make the tour.

Gibson-Park sustained a hamstring injury during Leinster’s 25-20 defeat against the Bulls in the URC semi-final at Loftus last weekend. It’s a massive setback for Ireland, regardless of how they spin it.

Antoine Dupont of Stade Toulousain is tackled by Jamison Gibson-Park of Leinster. Gibson-Park will miss Ireland's tour to South Africa. (Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Read more in Daily Maverick: The Bulls’ rise to URC favourites underscores the growing depth in SA rugby

Gibson-Park is the team’s metronome. He sets the tempo by choosing when to keep it tight, when to go wide and when to snipe or kick. If that sounds like the job description of any international scrumhalf — it is – but few do it so well and with so few errors.

The great Fourie du Preez could seemingly identify spaces three plays before they emerged, and Gibson-Park is similarly gifted. He always seems to know when and how to make the correct decision in those moments when the right action is needed.

Ireland are also without brilliant fullback Hugo Keenan and wing Mack Hansen. Both were stalwarts of their superb 2021-23 era when they won a series against the All Blacks in New Zealand and beat the Boks twice – once in Dublin and once in Paris.

Players of their quality and class may be replaced by other good players, but their impact and influence on games are not easily replicated.

The fourth high-profile casualty is looseforward Jack Conan. While Farrell prefers to use Conan off the bench, that is not a signal of some lesser value to the team.

In fact, Conan’s ability to increase physicality and mobility in the latter stages of games, allowing Ireland to win those crucial dying moments of tight games, is his biggest asset. He will be hugely missed against a Bok team that never goes away — just ask France, England and the All Blacks. Conan is a man any team would love to have in the trenches with the game on the line.

Ireland’s squad, captained by flank Peter O’Mahony is still formidable — you don’t become a top team without depth – but those are some serious absences to fill.

Hard hitting looseforward Jack Conan, who toured South Africa with the British & Irish Lions in 2021, will mis Ireland's 2024 tour to the same country due to injury. (Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images)

Injured Boks

It’s not as if the Springboks are issue-free either though. Arendse and Moodie are both on the injured list due to a fractured cheekbone and broken finger respectively.

Moodie could be ready for the first Test against Ireland at Loftus on 6 July while Arendse is also in a race against time. He is more likely to feature in the Rugby Championship later this year.

Le Roux is sitting out with concussion and if his return-to-play protocols go without a hitch, he should be available for selection again - possibly only for the second Test in Durban on 13 July.

But prop Steven Kitshoff will miss the series with a knee injury and De Jager, having recovered from a heart issue that kept him out of RWC 2023, sustained a shoulder injury and will miss the series.

Scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse and Am are also absent from the squad at the moment as they make progress from injuries while RWC 2023-winning lock Jean Kleyn is also out injured.

And No 8 Jasper Wiese, while fit, is not available for the Ireland series due to suspension after being banned for six weeks because of a dangerous tackle in a club match.

Boks finish preparations

The Springboks wrapped up their preparations for Saturday’s Test against Wales at Twickenham. They had their final training session in Pretoria, with the touring squad of 30 players named by coach Rassie Erasmus set to depart for London on Wednesday night.

No 8 Evan Roos is one of the fringe players who has a chance to play himself into the squad to face Ireland, especially in Wiese’s absence. Roos will earn his sixth Test cap in the clash and he was delighted to be back in the national team.

Roos will feature in an exciting loose trio with Rugby World Cup winners Kwagga Smith and Bok captain Pieter-Steph du Toit. The pack to face Wales includes seven forwards in the starting team that were in the squad during the Boks’ triumphant run to a fourth RWC title.

“I’ll be playing with a bunch of Rugby World Cup winners in the pack, which makes my job much easier,” said Roos. “I’ve known these guys for about three years, and it certainly gets more comfortable each time I’m in camp.

“It’s an important Test, so it will be vital to implement what we’ve been working on at training. Every team plays to win, so we’ll definitely do our best this weekend and try to make it as easy as possible and special for the guys making their debuts.” DM

Ireland Squad:

Backs: Bundee Aki, Caolin Blade (both Connacht), Craig Casey, Jack Crowley (both Munster), Ciaran Frawley, Robbie Henshaw, Jordan Larmour, James Lowe (all Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), Conor Murray, Calvin Nash (both Munster), Jimmy O’Brien, Jamie Osborne, Sam Prendergast, Garry Ringrose (all Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster)

Forwards: Ryan Baird (Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Caelan Doris, Tadhg Furlong, Cian Healy (all Leinster), Rob Herring, Cormac Izuchukwu (both Ulster), Oli Jager (Munster), Ronan Kelleher, Joe McCarthy (both Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Andrew Porter (Leinster), Cian Prendergast (Connacht), James Ryan, Dan Sheehan (both Leinster), Nick Timoney (Ulster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster)