De Kock joins Conradie on the sidelines

Springbok coach Jake White will say his prayers before Saturday's Currie Cup final that South Africa's scrumhalf curse does not extend to Fourie du Preez.

The Blue Bulls star is the last man standing of the country's experienced No 9s after Neil de Kock's name was added to that of Western Province team-mate Bolla Conradie on the sidelines.

De Kock, it was announced on Monday, has to undergo surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left shoulder. The expected recovery period is 12 weeks, which has ruled him out of South Africa's tour of Britain and Argentina.

"It's the injury that I sustained against the Sharks that just got progressively worse. I don't know what Springbok coach Jake White was planning on doing in terms of selection, but I was hoping to get an opportunity," said De Kock.

"It's disappointing for a season to come to an end like that. It's not every day that you get to go on a grand slam tour. It would have been an awesome opportunity had I been picked. But I'm not the first player to who this has happened and I won't be the last. It's the nature of the game."

De Kock, however, did not want to blame Rassie Erasmus for the injury after being up-ended by the Free State captain.

However, the admission that he had been carrying the injury is nevertheless a disturbing one and one would expect a more thorough and conservative approach by WP towards injuries.

The question is now who will provide back-up to Du Preez on the tour. There is general consensus that Enrico Januarie is the man to do duty on the substitutes bench, but a 30-man squad allows for three halfbacks.

De Kock believes Blue Bulls reserve Norman Jordaan is a man the selectors could easily pick.

"Norman played well against us at Loftus recently. I think he's a good player. He has played Super 12 rugby and at international level, so has experience," he said.

Jordaan earned his only cap for South Africa to date in the infamous 53-3 defeat to England at Twickenham at the end of 2002.

The selectors - White, convenor André Markgraaff and Peter Jooste - also have a few other options to consider. They may well take their cue from Bok backline coach Allister Coetzee, who was a top scrumhalf in his hey-day.

Coetzee believes Lions star Enrico Januarie and Free State's Michael Claassens should both be strong contenders.

"Enrico played well in his last couple of games. He battled at the beginning of the season, but has improved his basics a lot," said Coetzee.

"Another guy I rate is Michael Claassens from Free State. He was one of the better players for the Central Uions side that played the warm-up against us earlier in the year."

Claassens was not available for the weekend's 17-11 semifinal win over WP due to injury, but confirmed on Monday that he had resumed training.

His team-mate, Noel Oelschig, also has his merits because he is a smart tactical kicker. In 2000, Oelschig also got South Africa into the under-21 World Cup final with a pressure kick from the sidelines against Australia.

White was also quoted recently about the possibility of experimenting with Lions centre Bryan Habana as a scrumhalf.

Brent Russell has also been linked with the position.

For now, however, the emphasis should be on specialists and Coetzee left no doubt that the Boks had a safe option behind the pack as long as Du Preez remained fit.

"Fourie is head and shoulders above the rest. He is dictating well and varying his game. That is a sign of maturity."