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Friday

15:10

Bok worry as Etzebeth injured playing for Toulon

By Online Editors

12 Dec 2020

Eben Etzebeth

Toulon secondrow Eben Etzebeth failed to return to the field after sustaining a head injury playing for the French side in their Heineken Champions Cup victory over Sale Sharks.

Toulon ran out 26 – 14 winners but the injury to the South African is worrying. Etzebeth landed awkwardly after being tackled from a restart in the 44th minute of the European fixture at Stade Mayol. His head collided with the head of Sale Sharks forward Jono Ross who was directly beneath him as he landed back down on to ground.

After being treated on the pitch, Etzebeth was helped off the field by medical staff and underwent a HIA, which he failed.

Etzebeth throws an opponent like a rag doll:

https://twitter.com/springbokbabyyy/status/1337806932820828161

It’s not his first concussion injury. In March 2019 he sidelined after failing a HIA following a collision in a match for the DHL Stormers against the Jaguares.

He’s a huge figure in South African rugby. The 29-year-old is the joint second-most capped lock, having surpassed Mark Andrews’ 75 Test matches and matching the caps of Bok legend Bakkie Botha on 85. Only Victor Matfield (127) has more caps than the former Stormer forward in the position.

In July the Capetown born forward extended his contract at Toulon, the Top 14 club he arrived at last November on a two-year deal following South Africa’s 2019 World Cup triumph in Japan.

The 6’8, 123kg lock was one of Toulon’s big signings in 2019 alongside the likes of Baptiste Serin and Sergio Parisse and they have been given the responsibility of helping the club return to the top table after languishing the past few years.

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Comments on RugbyPass

SK 18 minutes ago

'Lightweight' Premiership not preparing England players for Test rugby

Scarlets not so great either but the two Scottish sides are really good, all the SA sides add value and its the same with the Irish sides. The comp is really strong. Leinster havent won it since its inception and last year shipped 6 games from 20. Their record in the Champions cup is better than that. Definitely not an easy comp and certainly pulls its weight

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SteveD 23 minutes ago

Rassie Erasmus pinpoints what made the difference in tight Bok win

🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟 ⚱️⚱️⚱️⚱️⚱️

46 Go to comments

Haze 23 minutes ago

Ex-All Black accuses Ireland's Jack Crowley of 'disgusting' act in Argentina win

Your poor framing of the incident in question leads me to believe you didn’t see it. Nor are you too familiar with the head contact process. The ref paid no heed to Crowley’s reaction; he was focused, as directed, on the incident itself, several angles of it replayed by the TMO on the big screen, and acted accordingly.

In any case, if you’ve ever received a head to the face, you might also put hand up to cradle it for a few mins. So your reaction here is, like this Devine chap, a bit hysterical.

Speaking of which, the irony of Devine’s comments is that - so I’ve read- he retired on medical advice due to repeated injury from concussions which he apparently still suffers from. Might explain why he got so emotional about it.

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Nickers 24 minutes ago

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He does not look as heavy as 91kg. Yes he is tall, but when Jordie Barrett who is about the same height first started he was 95kg, and this guy looks waaaay skinnier than that. I wouldn't be surprised if he was as light as 82kg.

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SK 37 minutes ago

'Lightweight' Premiership not preparing England players for Test rugby

Well I dont think you can condemn the premiership as much as many people demonise the league these days. The Top 14 is the best league in the world and routinely produces the champions cup winner. They have loads of money, investment and fan engagement. They have the best players available and massive squads with huge amounts of substitutes applied. Last year Harlequins went to the Semis in the Champions Cup and ran the eventual winners close. Northampton were there too and gave Leinster a difficult time away from home. The Premiership routinely produces semi finalists in the best comp in the world. Its not as bad as people thing with Prem teams able to compete with the best in Europe. The Prem also contains some of the Worlds leading players.

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Tom 38 minutes ago

'Ellis Genge, I have never seen his defence so bad'

Agreed. His coaching ticket is so inexperienced and not one of them has a track record on their respective field to warrant coaching England. Borthwick has appointed his friends because he doesn't want to be challenged by outside influences. He did well at Leicester and this gave him the impression that he had the winning formula, he's tried to take a premiership coaching setup and premiership strategies and apply them to international rugby, it's not working. If Borthwick stays, Wigglesworth and El-Abd must go.