While the Sharks picked up some more casualties on Saturday in the 24-20 loss to the Stormers, there is a silver lining with some injured Springboks almost ready for action.
Hooker Bongi Mbonambi, lock Eben Etzeneth, midfielder Lukhanyo Am and scrumhalf Grant Williams, and squad players James Venter and Vincent Tshituka, look set for a return ahead of their double Champions Cup matches in January.
More injury issues as Aphelele Fassi goes off for the Hollywoodbets Sharks 🤕
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) December 28, 2024
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That will offset the possible loss of Andre Esterhuizen and Aphelele Fassi, with both Boks picking up suspected knee injuries on Saturday in Cape Town. Lock Emile van Heerden was the other casualty, also hurting his knee in a tackle.
Plumtree was pleased with the performance and fight, but lamented the crucial period after half-time where they could not get their hands on the ball.
“The Stormers started offloading and played with a lot more freedom then.”
“The Stormers started offloading and played with a lot more freedom then,” Plumtree said.
“I thought our defence was amazing in that period. The willingness of the players to work back and come forward. It was excellent scramble tackling and the boys were really brave in that space.
“But we didn’t really get enough ball in that second half and I think we went past five phases once and managed to score. We opened the Stormers up a couple of times, but were not clinical enough. We will look back at some of that stuff.
“At 20-17 up in the 77th minute, we gotta hang onto the game.”
“At 20-17 up in the 77th minute, we gotta hang onto the game.”
The loss of Esterhuizen was a contentious one. He was cleaned out dangerously at a ruck by opposite number Jean-Luc du Plessis.
The match officials, upon review, only decided on a penalty and to overturn a try scored by the home side. Esterhuizen, though, was carted off and Plumtree feels due to the nature of the injury it should probably have been more than a penalty.
“You can sit up here and moan about these decision...”
“You can sit up here and moan about these decision, but there will be one next week where you ask another coach ... Amy (Barrett-Theron, referee), referred it to the TMO and it looked clear an obvious didn’t it? I guess they make mistakes as well.
“We did the best we could under the circumstances (with key players off). The injuries seem to be haunting us a little bit. And they are not the one or two week, they are six to eight week ones. It’s certainly very stressful to the team.
𝐉𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐱 𝐉𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐧 🦈
The brothers combine to set up a Grandstand finish at the DHL Stadium 🔥🔥
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“Hopefully, Emile is not too bad. He’s got some bloody problems with his knees and I probably have to bulletproof him differently or something.
“I feel sorry for him because he is such a good player. But he’s been plagued by these injuries and it’s really disappointing for him.”