JUST IN:All Blacks’ grim injury crisis dealt another setback for Springboks showdown

The All Blacks look have suffered yet another setback at scrum-half ahead of the clash with the Springboks at Eden Park on Saturday.

Scott Robertson is already without the services of two of his three frontline number nines for the round three Rugby Championship fixture.

Cam Roigard did not link up with the squad upon their return from Argentina, as he continues to recover from a stress fracture in his right foot.

Meanwhile, Noah Notham has had surgery for a high ankle sprain and is estimated to return in three to four weeks.

Scrum-half crisis continues

Cortez Ratima, who started both Tests against Argentina, sustained a rib fracture in the defeat to Los Pumas and remains in doubt for the clash against the Springboks with head coach Robertson stating that they will give him as much time as possible to recover and make the matchday 23.

“He’s going to go to the wire. We’re going to give him every opportunity. It’s pretty important,” All Blacks boss Robertson said on Monday.

“He obviously played and was sore after the game, but he’s tough. It’s the great thing about Cortez, he’ll give me the opportunity to play.”

Ratima looks primed for a place on the bench if he is to recover in time, with Finlay Christie, who was among the replacements for the opening two rounds of the competition, could then be promoted to the run-on team.

Crusaders number nine Kyle Preston has also been tipped to feature off the bench, but his involvement has now been thrown into doubt too after limping off the training paddock on Tuesday.

The medical staff assessed Preston’s right ankle before he limped to the sidelines at North Harbour Stadium, adding further concern to the number nine jersey for New Zealand.

An All Blacks spokesperson told reporters that Preston was getting assessed for a cut on his ankle.

“Cortez is still training; he is under an injury cloud, we’re still keeping our eyes close on him,” assistant coach Scott Hansen said of Ratima.

“He’s a brave, young man. He’s possibly running around looking pretty happy. We know he’s pretty sore.”

If Ratima and Preston are both ruled out of the fixture, it could open the door for a Test debut for Chiefs and Waikato scrum-half Xavier Roe, who joined the squad as injury cover.

Hansen has backed the uncapped halfbacks to step into the Test arena, if required

“Pass the ball well, kick the ball well and be you. It’s not [about] cluttering the young No 9s. It’s [about] giving them the frame, the confidence in who they are and why they’re here,” Hansen said.

“They have a massive opportunity in the environment and know they’ll take the ownership when the opportunity is there for them to play.

Springboks’ injuries

Meanwhile, the Springboks are dealing with somewhat of a crisis of their own with injuries stacking up in the loose track

Captain Siya Kolisi remains in doubt for the fixture, adding to the unavailable possible number eight options, which includes the likes of Juarno Augustus, Cameron Hanekom and Elrigh Louw. Jasper Wiese has travelled with the Springboks but will miss the first game in New Zealand due to a suspension.

Veteran hooker Bongi Mbonambi also didn’t make the trip out to Aotearoa as there was an illness in his family, with Erasmus adding scrum-half Faf de Klerk to the squad as Morne van den Berg is nursing a niggle.

“We didn’t replace Bongi with Faf. Morne actually has a bit of a niggle, which is looking good and we just got Faf in for precautionary reasons. Bongi wasn’t subbed by Faf,” Erasmus explained on Monday.

“There is some illness in Bongi’s family, so he will rejoin us as quickly as he can. If we get through this game without an injury at hooker because Jan-Hendrik [Wessels] can cover there for us, and we have Malcolm [Marx] and Marnus [van der Merwe], too.

“We just wanted to make sure that Morne’s niggle was more serious than we thought it was. We could have toured with 34 or 35 guys; we came with 36, but we didn’t have a fourth scrum-half.”