Durban - Lions loose forward and Springbok squad member Cyle Brink picked up a knee injury at training in Durban on Thursday.

The nature of the injury is not yet known, but the 24-year-old was seen in the Bok team hotel on Thursday afternoon wearing a brace on his right leg and hobbling around on crutches.

Brink was not named in the Bok squad for Saturday's Rugby Championship opener against Argentina at Kings Park, with Erasmus instead opting for the Bulls' Marco van Staden as his loose forward cover off the bench.

But with Erasmus looking to build a pool of players between now and the 2019 Rugby World Cup, he was keen to get Brink involved in one of the first two matches of the tournament.

The Boks are yet to release a medical statement, but he will leave the squad on Thursday night and it now seems impossible that he will be part of next weekend's trip to Mendoza to take on the Pumas.

Kick-off on Saturday is at 17:05.

Teams:

South Africa

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Siya Kolisi (captain), 6 Francois Louw, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Lionel Mapoe, 23 Damian Willemse

Argentina

15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Agustin Creevy (captain), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

News from the Bok camp - Cyle Brink (loose forward) was withdrawn from the squad on Thursday after suffering an injury to his right knee during training. No replacement will be called up for the uncapped 24-year-old. He will be further assessed by the Golden Lions medical staff. pic.twitter.com/V9l4TKAUTl — South African Rugby (@Springboks) August 16, 2018

Substitutes: 16 Diego Fortuny, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Tomas Lavanini, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia