Eben Etzebeth, a second-row player for the Sharks and Springboks, was pulled off the field during Saturday’s 23-13 victory over Edinburgh, raising serious concerns about his injury.
After undergoing treatment for a rib injury, Etzebeth participated in the first half of the United Rugby Championship (URC) game at Kings Park, but he did not return for the second half.
Sharks head coach John Plumtree is accepting that he won’t have South Africa’s player of the year for Saturday’s Challenge Cup round-of-16 matchup against Zebre Parma in Durban, even though he is unclear of the nature of Etzebeth’s injury.
Unsure about the severity of the injury
The extent of the injuries is yet unclear to us. It hurts a lot,” he said to Sport24.
“We’re praying that it’s only some cartilage, since in that case, he would be out for two to three weeks. However, there is still time to conduct testing and identify the precise problem.
In addition to Etzebeth’s injury, the Sharks were also without fellow Springbok Vincent Koch when they played Edinburgh. Koch was supposed to make his team’s debut, but he had to withdraw late due to a stomach ailment that he had on the day of the URC match.
Plumtree disclosed that a number of his team mates had lately met a similar end, Emile van Heerden being the one who packed down next to Extend they ringduring the Edinburgh clash.
However, despite all the distractions the Sharks remained focused and managed to earn their second successive victory. “There was a lot going on in that game and the boys handled it really well,” said Plumtree.
