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<\/p>\nSouth Africa beat Scotland in their opening game <\/p>\n
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South Africa endured an injury blow with the news that key man Eben Etzebeth has been ruled out of their second Rugby World Cup pool game.<\/p>\n
Towering lock Etzebeth picked up a shoulder injury during Sunday\u2019s opening 18-3 win over Scotland and was substituted just 26 minutes into the game, with RG Snyman coming on in his place.<\/p>\n
Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus confirmed on Monday that the 31-year-old will be sidelined for seven to 10 days, meaning he will miss Sunday\u2019s clash against Romania. However, if that timeline is correct \u2013 and Erasmus did concede the possibility that he may be out for longer depending on further scans \u2013 then Etzebeth would be able to return for the Springboks\u2019 crunch clash on Saturday 23 September.<\/p>\n
And Erasmus praised the second row for his honesty in fronting up about the injury so early in a World Cup opener.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s always tough in a game like that \u2013 opening game of the World Cup \u2013 but I do like the honesty when he said \u2018Guys, I\u2019ve got a sore shoulder\u2019. You know, 85-per-cent-ready Eben won\u2019t be able to contain a team like Scotland,\u201d said Erasmus.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this stage it looks like a seven to 10-day injury, like Jean Kleyn was, and like Canan (Moodie) was.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo there is some time to manage him, but the scans will give us a definite on it. We might find out it\u2019s much more serious, but at this stage it looks like a 10-day injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we\u2019ll probably have 100 per cent clarity, I believe, on Eben and what\u2019s the extent of that. Then we\u2019ll have to make the right call, because we can\u2019t have players who are 70 or 80 per cent (who don\u2019t) turn to a hundred per cent in the next seven to 10 days. We will have to think clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Etzebeth won\u2019t be fit to face Romania in the next group game <\/p>\n
There was also suggestion that Jesse Kriel could be cited for instigating an apparent head-to-head collision when tackling Jack Dempsey in a dangerous manner. But Erasmus was unconcerned by that prospect and confident his man did nothing wrong.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are really comfortable; there hasn\u2019t been a citing (and) I\u2019m pretty sure there won\u2019t be a citing,\u201d added Erasmus.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it isn\u2019t direct head contact \u2013 and it wasn\u2019t, it was tackled on the ball and then he moved up after tackling on the ball. I\u2019ve seen a few stills where people just (show) after direct contact to the ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you took it a millisecond or a second or two back, you\u2019ll see that he clearly tackled on the ball. So we\u2019re very happy with how it was refereed.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI think Finn Russell\u2019s call was much closer. Unfortunately, he got injured then, I think that deflected a little bit from the action that he did, but we were happy with the decision that was made.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously there\u2019s some time to do citings still but I\u2019ll be very surprised for the indirect contact \u2013 with first contact on the ball \u2013 that there will be anything from that.\u201d<\/p>\n