Etzebeth's tour could be over
Eben Etzebeth may miss the rest of South Africa's tour of the northern hemisphere after limping out of a 12-11 defeat to England on Saturday.
The influential lock hobbled off early in the second half at Twickenham with what appeared to be an ankle injury.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus revealed Etzebeth has no chance of facing France in Paris next week and could also miss the Tests against Scotland and Wales.
"Eben looks pretty bad," said Erasmus. "He is out definitely for next week and maybe the tour.
"The way he is walking doesn't look great, it looks like an ankle and will be a while before he is playing again."
South Africa dominated the first half, but a lack of ruthlessness meant they only went in at the break with an 8-6 lead courtesy of S'busiso Nkosi's try and a Handre Pollard penalty.
Pollard missed a chance to win it from the tee after a penalty from Owen Farrell, who breathed a sigh of relief right at the end when he was not punished for a tackle on Andre Esterhuizen which may have been deemed to be dangerous.
Captain Siya Kolisi says the Springboks only have themselves to blame for falling short.
"We made it really tough for ourselves. I think we didn't capitalise on our opportunities when we had them, especially when we got to the 22," he told Sky Sports.
"We had so many chances that we could've taken, but England played really well today. The tough thing for us is that we know we were our own worst enemies.
"We stuck with the plan, but the problem is that we didn't execute. The plan worked well, but when we got to the place to take the points, we didn't do that – and that’s the tough thing about it."
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You'd swear they didn't win 28-7 away from home....
Go to commentsMcKenzie is better than Barrett , but not better than Richie Mo'unga. Richie regularly outplayed DMac in Super Rugby. , as he did in the 2023 Final in Hamilton. I remember the 2021 Aotearoa Super Rugby Final here in CHCH. Mo'unga took him to the cleaners. McKenzie is a fine footballer , but at best a hybrid 10 . Fergus Burke , ( now playing in England ), who made a big difference when he came back late in the Crusaders season , is a better 10 than DMac. I also think 140 game + Crusader Matt Todd was always a better no 7 than Sam Cane.A big part of 3 title winning teams when South African teams were still in the comp. How many titles did the Chiefs win in that period of time?
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