The once-feared Springboks engine room is in line for another overhaul on Saturday when the severely depleted world champions clash with the All Blacks in the second leg of their Tri-Nations rugby road trip.

Flip van der Merwe and Alistair Hargreaves, the locking duo which started Saturday's 39-20 loss to the Wallabies, both sat out training on Monday.

It was the side's second last run before South Africa leave for Wellington on Wednesday.

Van der Merwe popped a rib cartilage against Australia and is highly unlikely to recover, although the prognosis on Hargreaves' abdominal muscle strain was more positive.

Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha are resting back in South Africa and Johann Muller is also out of action with a hamstring injury.

Springboks assistant coach Gary Gold admitted the second row was a major cause for concern ahead of the first of three potential clashes with the All Blacks this year.

Bulls veteran Danie Rossouw is in contention to switch from the blindside flank and, if Hargreaves is also ruled out, then a Test debut looms for Gerhard Mostert.

It turned out Springboks head coach Peter de Villiers was serious on Saturday night when he stated there were no locks left in South Africa as he mulled over the injury toll inflicted by the Wallabies.

Mostert, 26, had to be summoned from Paris, where he had spent less than a week at his new club Stade Francais since leaving Durban at the end of the Super Rugby season.

He arrived yesterday via Amsterdam and Hong Kong and ran off the jetlag during a light session at North Sydney Oval.

"It has been a bit of a headache," Gold said of the injuries to Van der Merwe, Hargreaves and Muller.

"It (the lineout) is primary possession for us and it's important to make a plan. Australia had four jumpers and I see this weekend being no different.

"We've got some challenges ahead of us, no question of a doubt. That's what this tour's about, challenges for the guysthat are here."

With 21 World Cup contenders nursing injuries back home, another casualty toll from the Tri-Nations opener was hardly ideal for the side's management.

Asked if the Springboks were capable of rebounding from an unsatisfactory performance against the Wallabies, Gold did not sugar coat the predicament.

"It's going to be an unbelievably difficult task. I have no doubt the All Blacks will be a star-studded team again but this is a huge opportunity for a group of guys trying to make their mark," he said.

Gold drew a comparison with the Tri-Nations double-header against the All Blacks in 2008 where they were outplayed in Wellington (19-8) before winning in Dunedin for the first time seven days later.

"We lost our initial Test in Wellington badly and the guys got their act together, went down to Dunedin a week later with some injuries and we were able to turn around a spectacular victory with no Fourie du Preez or John Smit," Gold said.

"That's the challenge we've got at the moment. If we pitch up and our attitude is correct, we have the ability to turn it around and put in a much improved performance."

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