Australia’s lock stocks may be stretched for Saturday night’s rugby clash against South Africa in Perth with doubts over the availability of James Horwill and Dan Vickerman.

Spiro Zavos: ‘Men of gold, pure so far’

Horwill was forced to sit out the latter half of today’s training session after copping a heavy knock to the sternum while Vickerman also failed to complete the session as he continues his return from ankle surgery.

Thankfully for Australian coach Robbie Deans, Nathan Sharpe has at least declared himself fully recovered from the groin injury that kept him out of the 40-10 second Test victory over France in Brisbane.

Vickerman, who was sidelined for Australia’s Test wins over Ireland and France after undergoing ankle surgery following the Super 14 season, made a successful return to club rugby over the weekend.

But the 29-year-old iced his right ankle for 20 minutes today and was limping noticeably afterwards.

In better news inside centre Berrick Barnes, who injured his shoulder against France, got through the physical session unscathed.

“It’s good. I got through that contact session fine and as you saw it was pretty physical,” Barnes said.

“I’ll be having plenty more (hits) come Saturday night so we know what to expect.”

The Springboks have an injury concern of their own with outside centre Adrian Jacobs, who copped a bump to the leg during South Africa’s 30-28 victory over New Zealand last weekend, no certainty for the Subiaco Oval clash.

Barnes, who switched from league to union in 2006, will enter his first Test against South Africa full of confidence following years of help from former Springbok Gerald Bosch.

Bosch, an icon of South African rugby in the 1970s, has been working with Barnes to help the young Australian improve his kicking game.

“We talk about three times a week and kick that amount as well. If we’re not kicking we’ll go have a coffee or something,” Barnes said of the relationship.

“He’s been really good for me and it’s important to have guys outside of the team that you know you can trust and rely on.

“Boschy’s been one of those guys for me and he’s been really good to have.

“Also just having a guy there who’s played Test rugby, he knows what it’s all about.

“He knows when you’re up and when you’re down and what you’ve got to concentrate on. To have that guy to talk to and fall back on is a big thing.

“League kicking is so much different to union. You’ve got so much more to think about in this game – where you’re kicking, where your support is and all that sort of stuff.”

Barnes said the pair had put extra emphasis on field goal kicking.

“We’ve been working pretty hard at that. That’s a skill I’m trying to get a lot better at,” Barnes said.

“I’ve used it a few times in Super 14 but it would be nice to bring it back out and obviously in Test match footy when things get tight you’ve got to use it.

“We saw Dan Carter take about four shots on the weekend (for New Zealand) and I definitely know Francois Steyn will probably take one.”

© AAP 2012

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