South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber has confirmed that Ox Nche will miss Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener against Australia, with Steven Kitshoff replacing him at loosehead prop.

The prop’s chest injury was flagged yesterday by Nienaber, shortly after he selected his squad to take on the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld. 

It has been confirmed that the 27-year-old picked up a pectoral injury and will be out of action for several weeks, which likely will rule him out of the rest of the Championship.

Versatile prop Trevor Nyakane will train with the team this week in Pretoria as cover, while former U20 international Gerhard Steenekamp has been drafted into the squad.

“It’s never ideal to lose a player to injury days before an important test match, but unfortunately, it’s part of the game,” Nienaber said. “We are particularly sad for Ox because he’s been working very hard in the last few months and making a great contribution on and off the field. We wish him a speedy recovery.”

Springbok Team To Face Australia

 15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) – 83 caps, 65 pts (13t)
 14 – Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps, 5 pts (1t)
 13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 31 caps, 30 pts (6t)
 12 – Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins) – 11 caps, 0 pts
 11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 7 caps, 35 pts (7t)
 10 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 10 pts (5c)
 9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 24 caps, 45 pts (9t)
 8 – Duane Vermeulen (captain, Ulster) – 65 caps, 15 pts (3t)
 7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 66 caps, 25 pts (5t)
 6 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 10 caps, 0 pts
 5 – Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers) – 11 caps, 0 pts
 4 – Jean Kleyn (Munster) – uncapped for SA (Ireland 5 caps)
 3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 58 caps, 5 pts (1t)
 2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks) – 56 caps, 60 pts (12t)
 1 – Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) – 71 caps, 5pts (1t)

Replacements

 16 – Joseph Dweba (DHL Stormers) – 4 caps, 0 pts
 17 – Thomas du Toit (Cell C Sharks) – 15 caps, 0 pts
 18 – Vincent Koch (Stade Francais) – 41 caps, 0 pts
 19 – RG Snyman (Munster) – 23 caps, 5 pts (1t)
 20 – Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 0 pts
 21 – Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) – 5 caps, 0 pts
 22 – Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks) – 1 cap, 0 pts
 23 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 27 caps, 36 pts (2t, 4c, 4p, 2d)