South Africa's doctor has insisted that the team will be bringing a fully-fit squad to their opening match of the Rugby World Cup against Japan.
The 2007 champions have picked up a number of injuries in the build-up to this tournament, with captain Jean de Villiers suffering a fractured jaw while attempting to prove his fitness following a spell out with a knee injury, while Francois Louw and Fourie du Preez have also had lengthy absences.
However, Craig Roberts told SuperSport: "At this stage everyone will be fit and ready for that first game. Obviously we're taking it day by day but that is our plan, to have 31 players fit and ready for the coach to select the 23 he wants for his first game.
"The guys trained incredibly hard for the last three months in Durban and in the last few weeks in Durban really put in the hard yards so if I look at the guys and their body fat, how fit and lean they're looking then I'm happy with them.
"Fourie has done really well, obviously he hasn't played a lot of rugby but for him we are trying to get him playing more and more simulated game time in training. I'm happy with his progress, we're still two weeks away and he is doing really well."
South Africa have also been struck by a flu bug in the build up to their opening match against Japan, with De Villiers and Bryan Habana among those affected.
Sian Cowper
