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Michael Hooper weighs in on Jac Morgan clear-out
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Springboks rocked by Eben Etzebeth World Cup injury scare
The Stormers and Springboks will be holding out with bated breath on news of Eben Etzebeth.
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It appears that the 27-year-old lock may have ‘broken his hand’ during the side’s 22-41 Super Rugby defeat to the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday.
This is certainly not good news for the Springboks nor the Stormers, who already sit without the services of duo Siya Kolisi (knee) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (shoulder) due to injuries.
To make matters worse, it appears that Capetonians’ injury count is not subsiding as Fleck revealed the ever-increasing casualty list following the gruelling defeat in Johannesburg.
Aside from the Bok giant, young lock Cobus Wiese could also miss next weekend’s actions after he picked up a hamstring injury.
“Our injury list is long,” Head coach Fleck said, adding: “It’s not just Siya [Kolisi] there are some big-name players we are missing like Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben [Etzebeth] potentially broke his hand and Cobus Wiese did his hamstring so the injury list is long.
“We are really going to have to bring some youngsters through now and see how they go,”
It was not a good day at the office for the Stormers. Just before kick-off on Saturday, senior hooker Scarra Ntubeni was ruled out and replaced by Chad Solomon for his first Super Rugby start.
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The Stormers struggled with Lions’ ruthless attack. They only managed to produced three tries compared to the hosts’ six.
Reflecting on the game, Fleck added that he is disappointed, but admitted the injuries did not help his team.
“Obviously, I am disappointed with the loss but we were in it and did well to fight back in the first half. We were under some pressure but just too many disruptions to our team, too many injuries and that affected the way we played,”
The Cape Town-based team currently sit in 11th position on the overall log with two home games remaining against the Sunwolves and Sharks.
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They will need to win both games with a bonus-point and hope that other results go their way to secure a playoff spot.
