Eben Etzebeth was a late withdrawal from the Sharks team to tackle Ulster in the United Rugby Championship with John Plumtree explaining his absence.
The most capped Springboks of all-time has been a large chunk of the Sharks’ season after sustaining a concussion in December before another setback during the Bok alignment camps.
Etzebeth misses Sharks clash with Ulster
However, he marked his return in the United Rugby Championship victory over Edinburgh last week, captaining the side and was set to do so again in Belfast against Ulster.
But Etzebeth withdrew from the match ahead of kick-off with Vincent Tshituka shifting into the second-row in his place.
That meant that Manu Tshituka came into the starting XV with Deon Slabbert added to the bench.
Speaking ahead of kick-off, Plumtree explained the reasoning for Etzebeth’s absence, stating the lock was ill during the week.
“Eben got sick in the earlier part of the week and never really recovered really, just got worse,” he told Premier Sports.
“So disappointing but Siya takes over and he is not a bad skipper.”
The Sharks boss added that he was hopeful that the Bok lock would recover in time for the match but the team did prepare for the worst.
He added: “He didn’t train yesterday. I was a little worried about it last night and we made the call late. We had everything prepared for the worst case so here we are.”
Updated Sharks team v Ulster
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Manu Tshituka , 6 James Venter, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Vincent Tshituka, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Jurenzo Julius, 17 Fez Mbatha, 18 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 19 Hanro Jacobs, 20 Deon Slabbert, 21 Phepsi Buthelezi, 22 Bradley Davids, 23 Siya Masuku
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/eben-etzebeths-disappointing-absence-explained-as-springboks-star-misses-ulster-clash
