Springboks lose Kolisi and Etzebeth to late withdrawals before England clash at Ellis Park

South Africa have been rocked by the late withdrawal of captain Siya Kolisi and 141-cap lock Eben Etzebeth from their squad just hours before kick-off against England in their Nations Championship opener at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The dual loss compounds an already severe second-row crisis for Rassie Erasmus. Franco Mostert, Lood de Jager and Riley Norton were already ruled out, leaving South Africa without any specialist lock cover on the bench. Etzebeth had been due to make his first appearance since early April after recovering from a hip injury — itself sustained shortly after he returned from a 12-week ban for gouging against Wales in November.

With 244 caps of combined experience stripped from the matchday group at the eleventh hour, Erasmus has been forced into significant reshuffling. Pieter-Steph du Toit will move from the flank into the second row to fill the void left by Etzebeth. Reports in South Africa indicate that one-cap Cameron Hanekom will be promoted from the bench to cover du Toit’s flank position, while uncapped Stormers flanker Paul de Villiers is expected to enter the squad in place of Kolisi.

England have also been hit by a late disruption, with full-back George Furbank withdrawn from the matchday squad after suffering from appendicitis, adding further uncertainty to what was already a high-stakes fixture.

The Springboks had not officially confirmed the revised squad composition in the hours leading up to kick-off, leaving both coaching staffs managing significant last-minute changes for the opening match of the new Nations Championship.