Former Springbok stars Jean de Villiers, John Smit and Victor Matfield says the absence of three injured first choice players will be a massive challenge for South Africa in their Rugby World Cup defence.

The team that was announced in Johannesburg on Tuesday did not include fly-half Handre Pollard, centre Lukhanyo Am, or lock Lood de Jager.

All three are on standby, though, in case anyone gets hurt during the tournament. The tournament starts in France on September 8, and the Springboks play Scotland two days later.

“The squad is very different to what we would have chosen prior to what we know now,” former centre Jean de Villiers told SuperSport.

“If you had to play a World Cup final today you would have selected all three,” he said.

John Smit, who led the Springboks to victory at the 2007 World Cup in France, said that Pollard’s loss was a big blow because it meant the team no longer had a proven goal-kicker who could win games.

“World Cups are won by goal-kickers,” said Smit. “We have to figure out who our top three goal-kickers are.”

Victor Matfield, who has played in 127 Tests for the Springboks and is the player with the most caps, said that the choice of Siya Kolisi as captain for the 2019 World Cup was “fantastic for the country.”

But all three former captains were worried about his match fitness after he had knee surgery in April and had to take a long break from playing.

De Villiers said that it would be important to define who would be in charge.

“Siya might be the captain of the squad, but he might not be the captain on the field.

“You need to be clear about the leadership roles. We have also lost two leaders in the backline in Pollard and Am.”

Matfield added, “Those three (injured players) are a big loss. We only have one recognised fly-half (Manie Libbok), although Damian (Willemse) can play there as well.

“De Jager is the best number five lock in the world. He is the guy running the lineouts.”

Smit said that Jacques Nienaber, the coach of the Springboks, and Rassie Erasmus, the director of rugby, had to make hard decisions.

“It’s difficult to take a guy who is injured to a World Cup because you cannot really send him back. What Jacques and Rassie have done is smart.

“They have picked guys who are fit and able, and they have put the rest on standby. If anything happens to one of the (selected) 33, they can call them up.”

De Villiers said that South Africa’s large number of good players “could also be our biggest weakness.” I’m not sure we know which team is the best.”

Matfield said that their warm-up games against Wales in Cardiff on August 19 and New Zealand in London on August 25 were important for getting ready for their first game against Scotland in the World Cup.

“We don’t have a pool set-up where we can play guys who are out of form, there are no really easy games.

“I think in the next two weeks we will see as close as possible to the team that will run on in our first World Cup game.”

The Scotland match will be followed by pool games against Romania, Ireland and Tonga.

Group winners and runners-up qualify for the knockout stage.

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