Johannesburg – The Springboks and Sale sharks scrum-half Faf De Klerk suffered a hip flexor injury and he’s forced to sit out of the game until next year.
The 30-year-old has been ruled out from joining the camp as they headed to Britain for a trio of November internationals against Wales, Scotland and England.
De Klerk underwent surgery on a hip flexor problem earlier this week and the doctors advised he still has to recover fully before he bounces back to the action.
This is a blow for the Boks, who are losing experienced players, after earlier this week, Morne Steyn announced that he won’t be taking part in Britain tour due to his retirement from the national team.
Boks head coach Jacques Nianebar stressed the De Klerk’s injury is a big blow for the Boks as they are keen on maintaining their winning mentality.
Nienaber announced his 32-strong squad ahead of their jam-packed fixtures, however, the Boks head coach had to rule out the Boks scrum-half player on Tuesday.
As it was previously stated that De Klerk would be out of action for at least five months, Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson has confirmed that the Bok scrumhalf will make his return sooner.
“We’re hoping it might be less than five months – maybe around four months, but we’ll see,” Sanderson said during a news conference on Thursday.
“I’m not happy about it but what can you do. We have to stay cheerful.”
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