[LOOK] Eben ruled out: Shoulder injury means Bok lock Etzebeth will not face Romania in second World Cup pool game
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Not 100 percent: Springbok enforcer Eben Etzebeth, right.Picture credit: Neal Simpson
Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth will be sidelined for at least seven to 10 days according to Rassie Erasmus.
South Africa’s director of rugby and his management team still awaited feedback from a scan on Etzebeth’s shoulder before he addressed media from Toulon in France on Monday.
But his early assessment is that the injury suffered in the first half of the 18-3 win over Scotland on Sunday night was not too serious, despite Etzebeth being replaced by RG Snyman in the first half.
Injury update: Eben Etzebeth will miss the #Springboks' next match against Romania with a shoulder injury - more here: https://t.co/rVHdEZb7tN 🚑#StrongerTogether #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/6RnHOLTtWW
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 11, 2023
With Romania lying in wait this week in Pool B, Erasmus says of Etzebeth’s injury: “Like we said before selected World Cup squad with some tough calls when we had to leave out guys like Lukhanyo [Am], and Handre [Pollard] who weren’t 100 percent and then last week Canan [Moodie] who’s now 100 percent and [Jean] Klein who’s also 100 percent, we couldn’t go with a player that’s 95 percent ready.
“It’s always tough in a game like that - opening game of the World Cup - and I like Eben’s honesty when he said ‘guys I’ve got a sore shoulder’.
“An 85 percent ready Eben won’t be ready to play against Scotland, so if you come off the field you definitely won’t be available for the next game.
“Yes, the standard answer is we’ll wait for the scan.
“At this stage, it looks like a seven-10 day injury like Jean Kleyn and Canan, so there is some time to manage him.
“We might find out it’s much more serious, but at this stage it’s a 10-day injury.”
Erasmus adds of his team’s performance against the Scots: “I think overall there was so much talk about Scotland being the best team ever in the history of Scottish teams.
“They are famous for attacking and spreading the ball and playing a high-pace game, so we’re very happy that we could contain them with all their great attackers.
“It was far from perfect, but a solid foundation to work very hard from here…”