Hopefully there will still be one or two fit players available to kick off the upcoming Rugby World Cup next month. The list of warm-up casualties, however, is already rising steadily. Poor Romain Ntamack of France and England’s Jack van Poortvliet will both miss the tournament. Other influential figures such as Handré Pollard, Lukhanyo Am and Cyril Baille are also sidelined, their hopes and dreams in the overworked hands of their respective medical teams.
It is by no means a new phenomenon. History is littered with names who might have illuminated the global game’s ultimate stage but for untimely injury. Not to mention reserves who ended up stealing the show. Remember the 2011 World Cup when the All Blacks, having lost Dan Carter (groin), Colin Slade (groin) and Aaron Cruden (knee), had to whistle up the unsung Stephen Donald? Not only did Donald end up supplying the winning points in the final but his local club in Waiuka even renamed their home ground ‘Beaver Park’ in his honour.
