Although Eben Etzebeth was not picked in the Springboks team to face the All Blacks in their Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park over the weekend, coach Rassie Erasmus has revealed the talismanic lock may still be drafted into the team.
Battling a meniscus knee injury, Etzebeth was first ruled out of the match on Sunday before he was able to attend a full training session on Monday.
The Springbok policy of only allowing players who train on a Monday to be eligible for selection would have been enforced for Etzebeth, had he not been fit.
Though the official team was announced on Tuesday, Erasmus explained what transpired with Etzebeth and that there is a chance that he might still take his place in the team.
Although Eben Etzebeth was not picked in the Springbok team to face the All Blacks in their Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday, South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus has revealed the talismanic lock may still be drafted into the team.
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Waiting on a miracle
“Sunday we pick the team, Monday we announced the team internally with Eben out. Our policy is if you can’t train on Monday, you can’t play on Saturday.
“Then Eben went and did a whole training session on Monday. I will have to see how this afternoon goes and then have a chat with the players if we are going to make a change, as he might have miraculously recovered.
“If that’s the case, we’ll be too happy. It will be very unlucky for as one of Elrigh [Louw], Marco [van Staden], Kwagga [Smith] will be left out. We’ll see how Pieter-Steph moves, and then think clearly and make the call tonight.”
On Monday, it surfaced that Salmaan Moerat, Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert and Jean Kleyn would not be considered due to injury. RG Snyman, meanwhile, may not be available for an even longer period.
The crisis at lock was a big concern, Erasmus said.
“It’s not ideal that we have so many injuries at lock, but we are pleased with the way Ruan [Nortje] stood his ground in our last match and we are confident that he’ll combine well with Pieter-Steph [Du Toit] at lock,” said Erasmus.