Eben Etzebeth was handed a 12-week ban this week after a review of his red card against Wales, and it’s the Sharks that will suffer the most as they will be unable to call on his services for the majority of the season.
“He’s very remorseful. Obviously, he knows what an impact it can have on a club like ours,” said Sharks coach John Plumtree on the eve of their Champions Cup opener.
“It’s not ideal, is it?” added Plumtree, who will step down as head coach after the Toulouse encounter. “Eben’s devastated. It’s a big blow for us. He’s one of our star players – a huge part of our tight five and our leadership – so it’s not ideal at all.”
Sharks have no choice but to plan for a long period without Eben Etzebeth
Earlier this week the Sharks made the pre-emptive move of deregistering Etzebeth from their squad for the upcoming Champions Cup season, having anticipated a significant ban.
“You’re only allowed to register 42 players for the Champions Cup,” Plumtree explained. “We had to deregister him because of the length of the ban. When he becomes available, we’ll re-register him. It’s just an admin thing, really.
“But before then he’ll come in and do some coaching with our juniors, and help some of our seniors too,” Plumtree added. “He needs to be around. He’ll take a break with his young family, but we’ll also give him tasks that will help the group.
“At least now we know what the ban is, and we can plan forward. We’ve got a couple of injured players like Corne Rahl – who’ll hopefully be available by the end of December. And of course we’ve got Jason Jenkins, Emile van Heerden, Marvin Orie … if we can get four or five locks ready by Christmas, that’ll be great.”
Matches he will miss:
Champions Cup
7 December: Toulouse vs Sharks
13 December: Sharks vs Saracens
10 January: Sale vs Sharks
17 January: Sharks vs Clermont
URC
20 December: Sharks vs Bulls
3 January: Lions vs Sharks
24 January: Stormers vs Sharks
31 January: Sharks vs Stormers
21 February: Sharks vs Lions
28 February: Bulls vs Sharks
21 March: Sharks vs Munster
27 March: Sharks vs Cardiff
