Springbok utility back Damian Willemse had his left knee heavily strapped during the captain's training session at Loftus Versfeld on Friday, but he looked in no discomfort running and jogging as the team put in the last preparation for Saturday's Rugby Championship opener against Australia.
Willemse only recently recovered from a knee injury he picked up playing for the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship (URC), and missed a couple of weeks of the initial Rugby Championship on-field preparation.
The Boks initially feared he was not going to recover in time for the opener (kickoff 5.05pm) in Pretoria and brought Elton Jantjies into the fold as a backup.
But Willemse, who played at fullback for the Stormers almost the entire season, recovered for this week's training and will cover flyhalf and fullback off the bench on Saturday.
Damian Willemse sporting some heavy strapping on his left knee at Springbok training at Loftus today.
â IOL Sport (@IOLsport) July 7, 2023
đ˝ď¸: @Leighton_K pic.twitter.com/y8OITPwrMK
It's not only Willemse who had strapping to his knee, but outside centre Lukhanyo Am and backup scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies also had their knees strapped.
But they all trained, along with the rest of the squad, without showing any signs of discomfort.
Meanwhile, the group of 15 Springboks, including captain Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth, who traveled to New Zealand early this week, arrived safely in Auckland ahead of their preparation for next weekend's All Blacks Test match.
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