VIDEO: Boks sweat over key player
INJURY UPDATE: The Springboks will be keeping a close eye on one of their star players in the coming days.
Lock Eben Etzebeth suffered a shoulder injury in South Africa’s 18-3 win over Scotland in the World Cup Pool B match in Marseille on Sunday.
He was replaced in the 26th minute by RG Snyman, who produced a solid performance.
The initial feeling out of the Bok camp is that Etzebeth’s injury is not too serious.
However, that can only be confirmed by scans.
#OPINON: Check out the Springboks Player Ratings after their 18-3 win over Scotland in their #RWC2023 Pool B match 👇#SouthAfrica #Springboks #Scotland #RSAcSCO https://t.co/FNK08HWAGo
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The Springboks will face Romania in their second pool game next Sunday.
Bok coach Jacques Nienaber was unsure as to the nature of the injury, Etzebeth confirmed that he will undergo scans on Monday to determine the exact extent of the injury.
“I don’t think it is too bad,” Etzebeth told @rugby365com, despite looking in obvious discomfort.
He added that he injured his shoulder while carrying the ball up.
The coach also said that they would fully assess the injury on Monday, but he was not willing to speculate about the extent of the injury.
(Continue below …)
* Meanwhile, Nienaber was full of praise for his team after ‘grinding out’ a win in their tournament opener.
Two second-half tries – by Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse in a 10-minute blitz – turned a precarious 6-3 half-time lead into an 18- victory.
Flyhalf and Man of the Match Manie Libbok’s no-look, cross-field kick to set up the Arendse try was the gamebreaker.
“It was a slippery one,” Nienaber told a post-match media briefing.
“Scotland is ranked fifth in the world, and we could see how they pushed against France in their warm-up games, so we knew it would be a grind.
“The historical winning margin between the teams is 15 points and it was the same in this match.
“They are a tough team who get stuck in, so it was always going to be a tough battle.
“That said, this is the first step in the right direction.
“It’s going to be difficult to get out of our pool, so our only focus right now is on Romania.”
With Scotland being limited to only one penalty goal for their efforts in the hot and humid Marseille conditions, Nienaber praised the effort by his charges in that department.
“Defence is beautiful for me,” said Nienaber.
“All credit to Scotland. They play with great speed and innovation on attack, so we had to be sharp to cut out their options.
“The players worked very hard off and on the field this past week to keep them at bay.”
@king365ed
@rugby365com
* Additional reporting by @Springboks
