Springboks
Springbok management made a bombshell announcement that World Cup-winning hooker, Malcolm Marx, has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament in France with a long-term knee injury.
SA Rugby said Marx went down at training on Wednesday after having his knee caught in contact and due to the enlarged squad, he will not be replaced in the squad at this stage.
"First and foremost, we are extremely disappointed for Malcolm, and we wish him all the best in his recovery," said Nienaber.
"He's been working very hard to be in the best form possible for the tournament, and it's tragic that his campaign has ended this way. As a team, we will remain in contact with him, as we do with all injured players such as Lukhanyo (Am), Handre (Pollard), and Lood (de Jager), and support him as much as we can through the recovery process.
"We have enough cover at hooker with Bongi (Mbonambi) and Deon (Fourie) in the squad, while Marco (van Staden) has also been training there and has been named on all our team sheets so far as a hooker option.
"We'll assess our needs for the rest of the tournament and confirm who we are calling up as an additional player later this week."
The Springboks will depart for Bordeaux on Thursday afternoon where they will continue their preparations for Sunday's round two encounter against Romania at Stade de Bordeaux.
