The Springboks have received some welcome news ahead of their second Pool B match at the Rugby World Cup in France.

On the weekend the reigning world champions will be in action against Romania in Bordeaux and wholesale changes are expected to their team.

The good news for the Boks is that the lock, Eben Etzebeth, may be fitter soon than initially thought after sustaining a shoulder injury during the 18-3 win over France in Marseille.

Manie Libbok and Felix Jones - SA Rugby

Etzebeth will still now play this weekend, but the assistant coach, Felix Jones, indicated that the enforcer could be ready sooner than expected.

“Eben is still, as of this morning anyway, a seven-to-10-day injury, so he won't be available for selection this weekend. But I don't think he was directly in the plans to play this weekend regardless.

“That seven to 10 days, or whatever it will be, might change on a daily basis depending on how he progresses.”

More good news for the Springboks is that the outside centre, Jesse Kriel, is available for selection against Romania.

“Jesse is available to be selected, there's been no further update on it,” Jones added.

There was fear that the play may be cited following a head-on-head collision with the Scottish 8th-man, Jack Dempsey. The Boks and Kriel certainly dodged a bullet in this regard.

A player that was not that lucky is the England flanker, Tom Curry. The hard-grafting openside flanker has been suspended for two matches after his red card against Argentina.

Curry appeared before a disciplinary committee yesterday and was given a three-match ban, which was reduced to two games, after he pled guilty to the charge and agreed to follow the World Rugby tackle school protocol.

He can play again on 7 October against Samoa.

Meanwhile, moving away from rugby slightly, the Proteas beat Australia by 111-runs in Potchefstroom on Tuesday night, while Bafana Bafana beat the DRC 1-0, giving South Africa a hat-trick of wins on the international stage since Sunday.

The Proteas batter and T20 captain, Aiden Markram, said the Springboks inspire and motivate them a great deal.

“It's huge for us to have the opportunity to inspire the people of South Africa,” said Markram.

“If we are in a position to do that and we can do that, it will mean a lot to us. You watch a team like the Boks in what they've done over the last couple of years - it's inspiring towards us as a Proteas team and it's motivating as well.”

The Springboks game against Romania in Bordeaux will be played on Sunday with kick-off at 15:00.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport