The good news for Springbok fans is that mighty Eben Etzebeth could make his comeback from injury in the Sharks’ United Rugby Championship (URC) match against Zebre next Saturday in Durban, and fellow Boks Aphelele Fassi and Andre Esterhuizen are hard on his heels.
The three key Boks are in Cape Town participating in the Springbok alignment camp as the URC takes a break for the Six Nations finale this week. Etzebeth, in particular, is likely to feature off the bench against Zebre on March 21 and start a week later when big guns Leinster hit the Sharks Tank.
Etzebeth was concussed in the Sharks’ Champions Cup defeat of the Exeter Chiefs on December 7 and hasn’t played since. He trained ahead of the Sharks’ match against Toulouse in early January but withdrew after suffering headaches.
Sharks coach John Plumtree says Etzebeth has been training with the team for some time but wasn’t ready for the return URC match against the Lions last week that landed the Sharks the SA Shield for the first time.
“I am too scared to tell you anything positive about Eben as every time I have done that before and raised my hopes we have ended up going backwards again,” said Plumtree, with a wry grin.
“But he is training with us and is looking really good. He trained well this week. We have the bye this week, but hopefully he will play for us at the end of the month. As I say, I am nervous about going for any positive timelines but right now it is looking very good.”
Plumtree’s cautious optimism aligns with Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ contention last week that Etzebeth will be playing for the Boks sooner rather than later in 2025.
“I drove through to Stellenbosch the other day to meet with Dr Pierre Viviers, the concussion guru, to just get a proper catchup so I could also understand the concussion setup again,” Erasmus said at a press conference in Cape Town.
“When a guy is totally concussion-free, he starts from a clean sheet again and that’s what we always want. So, if a guy gets a normal concussion in a game and he fails the HIA protocols, then we will never bring
“Eben must just get to that stage now where they say he is concussion-free.”
The fact that the 33-year-old is participating in the Sharks’ training session indicates that he is symptom free and on the brink of a return to play.
The Sharks will be thrilled to have back Etzebeth’s considerable presence. Their second and back rows are short on players with a big physical presence, while the inspiration provided by the Springboks’ most capped player speaks for itself
Fassi and Esterhuizen were both crocked during the Sharks’24-20 loss to the Stormers in Cape Town on December 28. Fassie suffered a serious ankle injury and Esterhuizen’s knee took an unfortunate blow when Stormers captain Dan du Plessis dived into a ruck from the side.
Plumtree said Fassi and Esterhuizen are “not far off.”
Erasmus will be happy to see first–choice fullback Fassi back in action. Fassie has entrenched himself in the position ahead of veteran Willie le Roux while Esterhuizen is the back-up at inside centre to Damian de Allende.
The Springbok alignment camp began on Sunday and concludes on Wednesday.