Mbonambi set for lengthy spell out as Sharks count injuries

As the dust settles on the Rugby World Cup, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the Springboks’ win did come at a cost, with Sharks hooker Bongi Mbonambi suffering a serious knee injury in the early stages of the title decider.

There has been no official confirmation of how long he will be out for, but he has been seen wearing a knee brace, and that sort of injury generally requires a good few months of recovery and rehabilitation.

With the Sharks having made a slow start to the URC, the potential long-term absence of Mbonambi does come as a blow, especially considering another new Bok recruit – Vincent Koch – is also sidelined with a knee injury as well.

In total, the Sharks have in fact listed as many as 12 players out with injury, with other big names such as Vincent Tshituka, Curwin Bosch and Francois Hougaard joining Mbonambi and Koch on the sidelines.

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Players not available for Sharks selection due to injury, including Mbonambi:

Bongi Mbonambi

Eduan Keyter

Le Roux Roets

Muller du Plessis

Nevaldo Fleurs

Francois Hougaard

Reniel Hugo

Vincent Koch

Vincent Tshituka

Curwin Bosch

Kerron van Vuuren

When will Bok players be back in the URC

In a press release issued by the URC on Tuesday, it was confirmed that South Africa’s World Cup Springboks “are only likely to all be back for their franchises by the end of the month, and in some cases only in December”.

Franchises were told that the World Cup players, who only finished their Trophy tour this past weekend, would be given an enforced three week rest, whereafter they would be available for their franchises once again.

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The trophy tour counts as the first week, while players will now have two weeks to rest before rejoining their franchises.

But with South African teams struggling in the opening rounds as all four sides are overseas, there has been an increased desire to see these Boks back in action again.

The Sharks are without a win after three games overseas, while the Bulls became the first South African team to win abroad this weekend.  The Stormers won in Johannesburg and at home before going down to Glasgow Warriors this past weekend.

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The earliest that teams will be able to get their players back is Round six of the competition, which is the weekend of 24-26 November, and just two weeks before the first round of both the Champions’ Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup.

Stormers coach John Dobson has already indicated that because his team are still on tour that weekend, they are likely to only bring back their Springboks in December, where it is expected that they will be phased into the team in Round Seven before being at full strength for their opening Champions’ Cup game on the weekend of 9 and 10 December.

The Bulls are in a similar position, although coach Jake White said that much would depend on the way they go in the remainder of their tour games, after picking up a win at Zebre Parma on Saturday.

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The Bulls will have the likes of Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Marco van Staden available for them and the plan is to have them firing by the time they take on Saracens on 10 December at Loftus Versfeld.

“Obviously we cannot wait to have that energy of the Springboks. You can imagine coming back from winning a World Cup, the kind of energy and enthusiasm they’ll bring to our squad,” White said after the Zebre win.

“But what is also nice is the guys that are playing in the positions that those players can play, are also playing really well and that’s always nice as a coach when you’ve got so many more opportunities to sort of change your team around.

“Who knows, maybe we might leave the Boks out. They’ve got a compulsory three-week time off, and then when we get back, they’ll join our squad. If we’ve got momentum, I might give them another week off.”

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Springboks are much needed at their franchises

What is most likely is that team form and individual requirements may be key to their return. This week already saw the news that Bok lock RG Snyman may miss a fair portion of the season for champions Munster as he will undergo shoulder surgery for an injury picked up in the World Cup win.

The Sharks are probably the side who would want their Boks back as soon as possible, given their start to the tournament. The likes of Jaden Hendrikse, Grant Williams, Eben Etzebeth, Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi would make a big difference to the side given the form they have displayed in the opening three rounds of the URC.

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The fate of the overseas-based Springboks is in the hands of their clubs as the enforced rest only applies to the South African franchises, and depending on the situation at every club the rest period is likely to be different, or not apply at all.

Springbok lock Marvin Orie, for instance, missed out on the trophy tour as he went to join his new club Perpignan and played this weekend in the side’s win over Toulon in the French Top 14. 

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