Rugby Union: Balshaw's Tour Over

Iain Balshaw's tour of South Africa came to a premature end yesterday but England remain hopeful that Jonny Wilkinson's back injury will ease sufficiently to allow him to face the Springboks in the second Test in Pretoria this weekend.

Initial fears that Balshaw had broken his right leg have proved unfounded but the Gloucester wing has already flown home, having undergone a minor operation to clean a gash on his shin. It completes a rollercoaster trip for the 28-year-old, who was left out of the original tour squad. He then replaced Northampton's Ben Cohen on the trip and only won his 30th cap on Saturday as an emergency stand-in after Dave Strettle was ruled out with illness.

Wilkinson is expected to train later this week but there will be little point in risking him at Loftus Versfeld unless he has recovered fully from the back spasm which forced him off the field towards the end of England's heavy defeat. He also sustained a cut to the face after colliding with his team-mate Roy Winters just prior to the Springboks' sixth try, scored by Schalk Burger.

The news concerning flankers Pat Sanderson and Andy Hazell, both of whom suffered heavy knocks in Bloemfontein, is also better than expected. Sanderson was taken to hospital for checks on a neck injury but has been passed fit to train today while Hazell's bruised left knee is not a major problem at this stage.

As a result the head coach Brian Ashton has no immediate plans to fly out any further replacements, with Matt Stevens of Bath and Saracens' Dan Scarbrough having already joined the squad. Andy Farrell and Peter Richards, victims of the stomach virus which has so far affected almost a third of the touring party, are recovering slowly and Strettle has finally rejoined the squad after being released from hospital over the weekend. The Harlequins wing was admitted to a high dependency unit in Johannesburg after suffering 18 hours of constant vomiting.

Players and management acknowledge the virus seriously impaired preparations for the first Test and Ashton could do without similar distractions this week if his team are to stand any chance of competing with an immensely powerful Springbok side. The England doctor Simon Kemp, however, has warned that those contracting the bug can remain infectious to others for up to 10 days and the risk of disruption remains. Ashton is scheduled to confirm his starting line-up tomorrow.

The Wasps wing Tom Voyce, meanwhile, returns to representative rugby for the first time in a year at Twickenham today. Voyce starts for England Saxons in their Churchill Cup game against Scotland A with club-mates Danny Cipriani, Paul Sackey and James Haskell, who played in the Heineken Cup win eight days ago.