BOK INJURY CRISIS WORSENS

Such is the magnitude of the injury crisis ravaging the Springboks that coach Jake White came to Monday's press conference in Bloemfontein flanked not by players nor management, but by two of the team's doctors.

With the Bulls' trio of Bryan Habana, Pedrie Wannenburg and Bakkies Botha all injured in their team's Super 14 semi-final loss to the Crusaders, White is sitting without six key players.

But the injury crisis is not just rotating around the loss or potential loss of a half-a-dozen players. The Springbok management returned the results of last week's fitness tests and they proved just how much rugby the players have played and how much strain their bodies are under.

Only 16 players could train last week, out of the 31 available, notwithstanding the Bulls and Wildebeest contingent.

Of the 31 athletes tested by team doctors last week, 32 per cent were symptomatic of muscuskeletal problems and of that percentage, 72 per cent were suffering from lower limb injury problems.

This means that the Springboks are battling to get on the park, let alone train for one of the toughest year's in their history.

"We are not attacking any union, or anyone in particular," said White on the injury concerns, "we must look at the system and try to get our best team on the park."

Dr Derik Coetzee, Head of Conditioning, commented, "the volume and intensity of the training has to be compromised....we have to train less and at lower intensity levels."

The fate of the three Bulls players and in fact any other player carrying an injury in this camp will be made by the end of the week.

Botha's Achilles tendon injury could keep him out for a few weeks while Habana's ankle injury could also keep the flying winger out for the same amount of time.

Prop BJ Botha should be out until after the Tri-Nations and Marius Joubert and Andre Pretorius for eight weeks.

White said that if this scenario plays itself out at the same time next year, World Cup year, then South African rugby will be in a major situation.

"If this happens this time next year then we will probably field a Springbok team at the World Cup with hardly any experience at all."