Witbank - The Springboks suffered a major blow ahead of Saturday’s first test against Italy when vice-captain and flanker Schalk Burger was forced to withdraw from the squad with an ankle injury.

Burger, who was the main feature at the Thursday media conference earlier on, underwent a fitness test Thursday afternoon on the ankle, which he rolled against the French last weekend in Cape Town, and was not deemed fit to play in the game.

“The Springbok medical team advised that Burger be withdrawn as there remained a risk of further injury,” a team media statement said.

Burger’s place will be taken by impressive Stormers flanker Francois Louw, who excelled against France and Wales for the Springboks this season.

But while Burger’s loss is offset by Louw’s exuberance, it has also robbed coach Peter de Villiers of the chance of seeing Dewald Potgieter slot into the loose trio with Pierre Spies and Burger, something De Villiers gave as a main reason for selecting the loose trio.

Still the cautious approach is a good one in the long term, especially with a tough Tri Nations ahead for the Boks. Both Louw and Potgieter are the future for the team and while it may not be the combination De Villiers wanted to see, it is at least the one he can keep an eye on for future.

Burger though, said he felt he was fine at the midday presser, but the decision late afternoon was more to ensure that there are no long term defects than to contradict the players viewpoint on his own fitness.

Earlier Burger pinpointed referee Keith Brown’s handling of the breakdown as the key element on Saturday. ‘It will again be a big challenge how we interpret the breakdown, and as eight forwards, we have to stand up,’ said Burger.

‘I honestly haven’t looked at Brown’s approach yet. But we’ll have a meeting with him before the game to see what he wants from us. ‘We’ll have to adapt. We know from last year’s encounter that Italy will be hugely physical again. ‘We know they’ll be competitive. They’ll try get on top of our set-piece, and that will go a long way to disrupting our game-plan and taking us out of our comfort zone. If they do that, that will flow over to the breakdowns, but we have to get quick ball to get momentum.’

Burger has also predicted a passionate performance from the Italians thanks to the team talk of coach Nick Mallett, who he believes will motivate the Italians to greater heights. Burger knew Mallett when he was the Director of coaching at Western Province before moving to Italy to take up the national coaching position.

‘We know they’ll be really psyched up. They’ll really want to climb into us. Nick has a great passion for the game, he loves it, and that will show in how they play and the heart they’ll display. He also knows our game well, so they’ll be well-prepared.”