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Six Springboks laid low by virus ahead of Saturday's Test

Following England's debilitating problems last week with a stomach virus, South Africa's rugby team was hit by a virus which laid low six players on Tuesday.

Danie Rossouw, Deon Carstens, Ashwin Willemse, BJ Botha, Wynand Olivier -- all starters in last Saturday's record 58-10 thumping of England -- and Waylon Murray were kept away from training on Tuesday in preparation for the second Test at Pretoria this weekend.

However, South Africa forwards coach Gert Smal said all six should recover in time for Saturday's match, and if any were not, then he believed there was enough cover for them in the squad.

"Fortunately, we have a lot of depth, and what we are actually doing is trying to phase in different players in any case so if anything happens they will be ready whenever they have to come in," Smal said.

Even after inflicting the Springboks' biggest win over England at Bloemfontein, Smal said there was still room for improvement.

"There are a lot of areas where we can improve," he said. "Our tight phases were not that good and Jake [White, coach] said after the game that our attack from first phase was not good enough. But it was always going to be a tough week for us coming back from the Super 14 and the first time the guys have played together."

The good news for the Springboks was the return to training by center Jaque Fourie and winger Akona Ndungane after injuries.

Sharks star JP Pietersen was over his hand injury and available to back up fullback Percy Montgomery, and flanker AJ Venter has returned from getting married.

White planned to name his team yesterday but England coach Brian Ashton was still pondering his 22.

Winger David Strettle returned to England on Tuesday, the third player to leave the two-Test tour early. Strettle, on his first tour, was hospitalized by the stomach virus which swept through the squad last week, and released at the weekend but not deemed fit enough to play at Loftus Versfeld this Saturday.

Strettle follows Iain Balshaw (shin) and Nick Wood (torn chest muscle), who have already left.

Scrumhalf Peter Richards and center Andy Farrell, also badly affected by the virus and not available at Bloemfontein, trained on Tuesday. So did Jonny Wilkinson, who suffered a face cut and back spasm in the first test.

However, captain Jason Robinson (knee injury), Andy Hazell (knee) and James Simpson-Daniel (illness) sat out the session in Centurion.
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