South Africa have announced Malcolm Marx has been ruled out of the remainder of the Rugby World Cup through injury. The 29-year-old hooker sustained a knee injury in training and will not feature in any of the Springboks’ remaining fixtures, including Sunday’s match against Romania in Bordeaux.
This comes after the forward played 58 minutes in South Africa’s opening 18-3 win over Scotland last week as they began their defence of their 2019 crown.
South Africa will not call up a replacement for the 64-cap Marx and their head coach, Jacques Nienaber, said another utility forward, Marco van Staden, has also been training at hooker.
“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], Handré [Pollard] and Lood [de Jager], and support him as much as we can through the recovery process.” PA Media
Hansen returns for Ireland
Mack Hansen has been restored to Ireland’s starting XV as part of four personnel changes for Saturday’s World Cup clash with Tonga in Nantes.
Scrum-half Conor Murray, hooker Ronan Kelleher and flanker Josh van der Flier are also recalled following last weekend’s 82-8 thrashing of Pool B minnows Romania. Johnny Sexton will captain a strong team at Stade de La Beaujoire, seven days before Andy Farrell’s side takes on defending champions South Africa.
Hansen made a 20-minute cameo during the victorious curtain-raiser in Bordeaux, having initially been left out of head coach Farrell’s opening matchday 23, despite being fit.
The 25-year-old’s late elevation to a spot among the replacements followed Robbie Henshaw pulling out ahead of kick-off due to a minor hamstring issue. Centre Henshaw has seemingly recovered in time for this weekend after being named on a bench which also includes prop Dave Kilcoyne, who has been sidelined with a hamstring issue, and tournament debutants Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Craig Casey and Ross Byrne.
Hooker Dan Sheehan has returned to training following the foot issue he sustained in last month’s warm-up win over England but remains an absentee.
The world’s top-ranked nation are seeking to extend their record winning streak to 15 matches to keep themselves on course for the quarter-finals moving towards pivotal Paris appointments with the Springboks and Scotland.
Fly-half Sexton last week came back from almost six months out through injury and suspension to become his country’s leading World Cup points scorer (102) by registering two tries as part of a 24-point haul.
With the South Africa showdown looming, Farrell has resisted temptation to rest the influential 38-year-old, who needs just nine more points to equal Ronan O’Gara’s national record of 1,083. PA Media
Samoa start Leali’ifano at 10
Samoa have selected Christian Leali’ifano, who scored the most points for Australia at the 2019 World Cup, as flyhalf in their opening Pool D clash against Chile in Bordeaux on Saturday.
Samoa are taking advantage of a relaxation in World Rugby’s eligibility rules, which means players who stand down for three years from appearing for one country can then play for another for which they qualify. That means they can also field former All Blacks Steven Luatua, who starts at number eight, and the versatile Lima Sopoaga as a replacement back. Samoa will target Chile as their most winnable game in a pool also containing England, Argentina and Japan as they look to progress from the pool stage for the first time since 1999.
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Chile’s coach, Pablo Lemoine, resisted the urge to make too many adjustments with four changes as they bid to bounce back from an opening defeat by Japan. Los Condores bring in Tomas Dussaillant at hooker, try a new second row pairing of Santiago Pedrero and Pablo Huete and give a start to Jose Ignacio Larenas on the left wing.
The lowest ranked team at this World Cup and making their debut in the tournament, Chile notched two tries in the 42-12 loss to Japan but also suffered a pair of yellow cards and now look to the Samoa game as their best remaining chance of a win. Reuters
Tupou concerns for Wallabies
The Australia prop Taniela Tupou has been sidelined by a “minor hamstring strain”, the team said on Thursday, making him a doubtful starter for their second World Cup match against Fiji in Saint Etienne on Sunday.
Nicknamed the Tongan Thor, tighthead Tupou has been one of Australia’s best performers this season and had a major impact on the 35-15 Pool C win over Georgia last weekend.
He sat out training on Wednesday and the team said scans later in the day had confirmed a strain that would keep him off the pitch for an indeterminate amount of time.
Zane Nonggorr replaced Tupou for the last 10 minutes of the Georgia match in his fourth test and the other tighthead in the squad, Pone Fa’amausili, has also been struggling with a calf problem.
Australian media reports said coach Eddie Jones was considering switching the experienced and versatile loosehead prop James Slipper to the other side of the front row for the Fiji match.
Slipper is also recovering from a foot injury that ruled him out of Australia’s opener at the Stade de France, although assistant coach Jason Ryles said on Wednesday he was “in the picture” for selection.
The Wallabies, who snapped a five-match losing streak against the Georgians, could all but secure a spot in the quarter-finals with a win on Sunday. Reuters