By Duncan Bech
South Africa forwards Bismarck du Plessis and Lood de Jager are injury doubts for the Rugby World Cup semi-final against the All Blacks at Twickenham.
Du Plessis sustained a wound to his right hand in the 23-19 win over Wales on Saturday while De Jager, the 22-year-old lock who has emerged as a star of the tournament, has a foot problem.
The duo's fitness will be monitored over the coming days, but the Springboks have been able to deliver a positive update on veteran lock Victor Matfield
"Bismarck has a nasty laceration to his right hand. Francois Louw accidentally stood on his hand," team doctor Craig Roberts said.
"Luckily no fracture, but it is a bit sore and swollen for him, so we will keep an eye on him throughout the week.
"Lood has injured a tendon in his foot so we need to give him some time to see how that settles and we will make a decision later in the week."
The victory over Wales continued the Springboks' recovery from their stunning defeat by Japan on the opening weekend of the tournament and No.8 Duane Vermeulen insists the biggest upset in rugby history was a pivotal moment.
"We had a meeting on the Monday straight after the Japan game and that's when the change in mentality happened. Everyone opened up and gave their bit. We moved on from there," Vermeulen said.
"We took a hard look at each other and said: 'What do we want to achieve? Where do we want to go in this World Cup? Do we only want to be there to compete or do we want to be contenders and go out and win this World Cup?'"
Vermeulen says the loss to Japan also helped them to refine their gameplan and get back to a style based around South Africa's traditional strengths.
He believes they are still to hit their stride at the tournament.
"It has been an uphill battle for us. I think as a South African you always produce when you are the underdog.
"We would like to keep it that way because we still have not won anything or achieved anything."
AFP