MARSEILLE, France – South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth has been ruled out for seven to 10 days with a shoulder injury, director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said on Monday, but is expected to recover for their Rugby World Cup Pool B clash with Ireland on Sept. 23.
Etzebeth went off after 26 minutes of the Springboks’ 18-3 victory over Scotland in Marseille on Sunday, and will definitely sit out the meeting with Romania this coming weekend. It is likely he would have been rested in any event.
But he is expected to return to meet Ireland – another heavyweight clash between the top two teams in the world rankings.
“The Romania match is the most important one next, not just to get the result, but to improve enough to really give (Ireland) a go,” Erasmus told reporters.
“If we manage to win that one (against Ireland), then it will be a really interesting last round because I think Scotland have the ability to give Ireland a go.”
South Africa have no other injury concerns in their camp following the bruising battle with the Scots.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
