South Africa summons Handre Pollard for Rugby World Cup 2023

South Africa Calls Up Handre Pollard to Replace Injured Malcolm Marx

In a surprising turn of events, South Africa has made the decision to call up fly-half Handre Pollard to their Rugby World Cup squad. This move comes as a replacement for the injured hooker, Malcolm Marx.

Pollard, who was initially left out of the original squad due to a calf injury sustained in May, has been on standby for the Springboks. His opportunity came when Marx suffered a knee injury during training and was ruled out of the tournament.

“We are confident with the cover we have at hooker,” said South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber.

Handre Pollard recently made his return after recovering from his calf injury. He played for Leicester Tigers in their recent Premiership Rugby Cup match against Sale Sharks, contributing significantly in their team’s victorious result.

“We opted to call up Handre, who has been an integral part of our system for years and was instrumental in our World Cup triumph back in 2019,” added Nienaber.

“He has worked tirelessly towards regaining full fitness and we are delighted that he now has some game time under his belt with his club. This will enable him to smoothly slot back into our team.”

The current World Cup champions still have Bongi Mbonambi and Deon Fourie as available hookers within their squad. Additionally, Marco van Staden took up the challenge by switching from back row to play at front row during their dominant victory over Romania (76-0) on Sunday.

With Pollard’s inclusion, South Africa now boasts two specialist fly-halves in their squad, with Manie Libbok being the other. Damian Willemse also had the opportunity to wear the number 10 shirt during Sunday’s match against Romania.