Sharks head coach John Plumtree will be sweating over the fitness of two Springboks players ahead of their return to action in the Champions Cup next month.
The Durban-based outfit’s next match is a highly anticipated Champions Cup encounter at home against the tournament’s defending champions Toulouse on January 11.
However, they could be without the services of Springboks backline stars Andre Esterhuizen and Aphelele Fassi who were both injured in the Sharks‘ United Rugby Championship defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town at the weekend.
Three knee injuries sustained in loss to Stormers
Esterhuizen, Fassi and Emile van Heerden all sustained knee injuries with the Springboks duo forced off the field early in the second half of that match while the Van Heerden was replaced midway through the opening period.
Although he did not know the full extent of the aforementioned injuries, Plumtree is preparing to be without the trio for a lengthy period, with Fassi’s knock appearing to be the worst of the three as he was taken to hospital for scans.
“It wasn’t a great day at the office for us on the injury front again,” Plumtree told reporters after the match. “And they’re not one to two week injuries, they’re six to eight weeks.”
Meanwhile, Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi was another casualty as he was replaced during the game’s latter stages due to muscle cramps.
“We pretty much lost all our leaders at the end. They were off the field,” added the coach.
Despite those setbacks and finishing on the losing side, Plumtree hailed his players’ efforts.
‘I was so proud of the rest of those boys’
“When you think of the players I do not have available and those sitting on the sideline, that is 15 or 16 players,” he said. “So that is why I was so proud of the rest of those boys.”
Despite the concerns over the likes of Esterhuizen, Fassi and Van Heerden, the Sharks are set to receive a major boost ahead of their clash with Toulouse as several Boks, including Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth, Grant Williams and Lukhanyo Am, are set to return to action.
Meanwhile, the likes of back-row duo James Venter and Vincent Tshituka are also expected to be ruled fit for that encounter.
READ MORE: Sharks coach gives update on rumours of Siya Kolisi’s return to the Stormers
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/springboks-duo-under-injury-cloud-ahead-of-sharks-champions-cup-clash-with-toulouse
