Etzebeth broken finger nail adds to Stormers' injury woes

Cape Town - The Stormers will conclude their 2019 Super Rugby season without the services of star lock Eben Etzebeth.

According to reports, Etzebeth has a broken fingernail, sustained in the Cape side's horror 41-22 defeat to the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Etzebeth was seen receiving treatment and having his finger strapped shortly before half-time and didn't appear for the second stanza.

Initially, the SuperSport commentators mentioned on air that Etzebeth had broken his ankle, but that appears to have been an inaccurate diagnosis.

The Stormers will need to regroup ahead of their final two matches against the Sunwolves (Saturday, June 8 - 17:15) and Sharks (Saturday, June 15 - 15:05) - both at Newlands.

Victory in those matches will almost certainly book an unlikely playoff spot (at 8-8) for a team currently rock-bottom of the South African Conference and 11th in the Overall standings.

The Stormers will also be without inspirational skipper Siya Kolisi for the remainder of the tournament and are sweating on injuries to a host of other key players, including Pieter-Steph du Toit, Cobus Wiese and Kobus Man Dyk.

  The Stormers will also be without inspirational skipper Siya Kolisi       huh? ... what is so inspirational about him?

I see wee Etzebeth has broken a finger nail again, lol We have Sam Cane playing with a broken neck, SA produces a different breed of player these days so we shouldn't be surprised I guess. Seriously though, Etza beth always seems to get injured. He plays very well for a while but....

Nah Cloudy, it'll be Cane at 6 & Savea at 7 ............. welcome back JW.

Now there's the spirit, welcome back JW.......now to see Wardad on deck.

Welcome back JW. You'll notice our ref's have been part of the efforts to facilitate your return. Glad their hard work and self sacrifice wasn't in vain 

Haha Shark 

That picture though. A bit like Tori Spelling and Dennis Rodman!

Bruno's self defense class with the dildos was ridiculously hilarious. I stopped that movie multiple times just to relax the laugh muscles in my head.  

Sadly an abiding memory of Etzebeth will be him, eyes blazing, snarling at an opponent.

So oaks did Beeno drive JW away from the board. What is the answer to dense denise's despicable charge?

As to Etzebeth, the world's premier lock, the kbbs are terrified of the guy. Cane playing with a broken neck is either a lie or monumental stupidity

Some may recall how Steph Du Toit was claimed to be injury prone. How has that worked out. Hahahahahahahahaha. Now the best 7 in world rugby.

Oaks take it from Beeno, the first two names for the Bok tight five are Etzebeth and Marx. You need to be a total bonehead to not understand that

Oaks must say one always worries when ignorant oaks get it all so profoundly wrong. Think about some rugby fan looking for a good rugby website to join and he comes across this absurd nonsense about Etzebeth!! They will not tarry long.

Dr Win nice to hear from you again and with your funnies...hahahaha ,.. with a broken fingernail he'll struggle to claw back into the side...lol

Lol Seb, you scraped the barrel for that one.

Beeno, even Moz is a fan of PSDT. He took a page out of Mostert's book and has been playing with the heart we wanna see.

We agree to disagree on Eben. I'd like nothing more than for him to return to form and it's likely i don't know enough about his position. But i do notice how others playing in his position positively affect games. 

Eben seems to vanish. his fans call it behind the scenes engine room work and the rest of us are either too blind to blind to see it or too used to modern locks doing more noticeable work. 

Either way, it has to be noted that Eben has consistently been the spear head of some very unsuccessful teams. No?

You people do know that Shark did some tampering with the nature of the incident? ?

I am not interested in doing a performance evaluation of the injury machine any longer.   How many matches did Etzebeth played in this Super Rugby season?   I think it was just about 25% of all matches played.   

For the res he was recovering from injuries,  

He entered into a contract with Toulon I believe -  but with such a record they would try and unload him within the first year,      

Ou maaaikie your take on Etzebeth is very poor. I suspect it's because Moz supports Etzebeth. Mozart Derangement syndrome. Hahahaha. 

Plum, a normally sane voice, has lost his marbles on the matter 

More importantly than the above where is dense Denise abject apology for saying JW left the board because of me. Outrageous stuff from the nutjob! 

"Plum, a normally sane voice, has lost his marbles on the matter"

It's likely that is true.

The problem is, nobody ever lays it out clearly for me.

Thus far, all i've gotten is that he is strong, teams fear him and he does work behind the scenes.

Cumon Beeno help a brother out and give me a breakdown of the nuances that i'm missing.

As i said, i'm happy to admit that i don't know everything about lock play.

Actually it would be great if you could give me things to look out for, outside of the obvious calling of lineouts, holing up of ball carriers and defense. 

In all honesty, i've kind of hit a wall at and it be nice to improve my understanding a bit.

Plum please note the dumbass rooitwit doesn't rate Eben. Surely that must give you pause to think. 

Eben has every attribute of a great lock. The Sharks would sign him up in a flash if they could. 

Poor rooitwit as usual is consumed with jealously. He thinks Eben is too rough, he hated Schalk for the same reason. 

Ok, maybe it's best to open up the question to everyone...

Here's what i think i know.

Eben...

Main attributes

4s need to be good jumpers - check

4s need to be tall and pumped - check

4s need to support 1 & 2 at scrum time - check

4s need to  combine well with 5s - big maybe

4s need to support attacking play - for me, he doesn't

4s need to make tackles at high rate and success - rate = no / success = above average

Bonus attributes

4s need to make momentum shifting plays - rare, very rare

4s need to boss the opposition - when you read this one, did you see flaring nostrils...exactly

4s need to have some pace and break the line to set up backs - also rare

4s need good off-load ability for continuity of momentum - average to bad

I'd like to see a side by side comparison of Snyman and Eben's stats as relates to some of the more defined points above.

The reason being that if they're comparable, well then here you go...  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN3bB-_SPNo

One can't help but be in awe of this guy! 

The 24 year old genius caveman! The music is so epic.

Plum

I would put Wiese into the above comparison as well.    I do not think that we have a good 4 at present - please note that when Ettzebeth was out -  Meyer moved Du Toit to 4 and not Snyman.   Fact is Snyman's test performances was not up to standard,   

My problem with Etzebeth is not his performance in the few games he played - where you identified some obvious problems - but his constant injuries and lack of contribution when he does play.   I cannot identify any substantial contributions he made when he did play  -  that is my problem with him.      

Eztebeth is the new Pierre Spies. 

Both were excellent in their younger years but declined over time. 

Became less and less consistent each year.  Both became more involved after the ref blows his whistle, and they get into the camera limelight. 

Spies retired from the game at 30-31 years old, which is pretty young especially for club rugby. No professional team wanted him.

I think Eztebeth is going to be another Julian Savea at Toulon, and the owner of the club is going to dump him with the Kings after one season. 

From what I read, he broke his hand...thought everyone knew the fingernail thing was in jest...appears not.

Plum, his chronic injuries is a worry and is starting to affect his play. He has rarely played with free abandon in the last 3 years.

Cool

So what should happen?

1) He is ignored for Bok selection until he can run out in form and uninjured for a few months, or...

2) He gets automatically selected regardless?

Mike? 

Snyman was in 19 when Meyer was coach. Did you mean to say Rassie?

Also...Sny man only has a handful of test caps. 

Etzebeth is the new Pierre Spies opines the hilarious Sharktwit!!! 

Some facts about the world's best lock. 

He is in his prime - 27 years old. 123 kg and 2.04 meters tall. He is a great athlete, fast and a superb line out forward. He is the number 1 enforcer and has definite leadership qualities.

He and Marx are the first two tight forwards one selects for the RWC. 

Anybody thinking otherwise is as daft as a ha tter and lacking in rugby acumen!

I mentioned how Steph had a series of injuries. It happens oaks, just bad luck. Please wise up its embarrassing when the oaks go so far wrong. 

How embarrassing for all the funny oaks having a go at Etzebeth regarding the finger nail when it turns out to be  broken hand. Doubtless the a pologies will flow. LMAO 

Didn't take my good friend JW to step in it very quickly. Hahhahahaha.

Seems ou JW got it hopelessly wrong! 

Beens

Hopefully Eben returns to form and is injury free for as long as is possible. 

Just so you know, i have no bias against him. 

So many others have been outperforming him and it's probably how he responds that will determine what happens in future. 

Problem is, Snyman is just not slowing down and my feeling is that we've yet to see the best of him. Mike's lad Wiese is also looking very good. 

It's tricky because one can't ignore them on hope.

Beeno

Don't be like the Mozart nitwit and dishonest to boot.

Fact is that some players mature early and then start to go sour,   SB mentioned  Spies - but the most famous disaster is Fat Fransie Steyn,

One would not like to see Etzebeh falling into that trap,   However, proof that he is not is to be provided in games actually played - but those are barely minimal as he rarely plays in matches for the past year,   In the few matches he did play in he was barely average,    So nothing has been proven the past year,  

Sincerely hope he gets out of the situation though. .

Plum to say Eben is not playing well and not contributing is BS. 

For some if a lock doesn't make a 50 meter dash he is all washed up. They look for the flash. 

There are even some who think a lock playing in the backline and selling a dummy represents the epitome of lock forward play. Wee matfiled comes to mind. These people have in fact been sold a dummy! 

As long as they're not sold a Duminy...because that's truly terrible.

Diversion from the f actual situation will not help.

Diversion from the f actual situation will not help.

Ou maiaiaikie justas your politics is thriving your rugby posts hit rock bottom with this Eben BS. Please wise up ou maiaiaikie if you stop and think a little rather than trying to take the opposite posi tion to Dr Moz you could do much better.

Thanks

Notice how  posters so easily slide into "hero worship" mode Plum, the highly self esteemed Beeno being a prime example The more mature posters such as Mozart and I take a logical & scientific approach, I'm glad you have joined us in that regard Plum.

JW let hope your science and reason allows you to understand the difference between a broken nail and a broken hand. Bwahahhahahahahahahahaha.

Beeno, the gleam of your Noddy medal must be blinding you to the truth (yes we acknowledge that you are the only poster on this board to receive said medal from Ed.. . what an honor it must be). 

Certainly Etzebeth has size, speed & coordination but sadly he is a wimp. Typically he has a few spectacular games, engages in a bit of push & shove & then fixes his amphetamine induced glare on a few players only to trot off the field for his pedicure appointment.

So JW you still don't know the difference between a split nail and a broken hand. 

Time for an abject retraction of your Eben BS. Go and ask ya pal Big Ears to explain. 

Hahahahaha JW crunched! 

Beeno

Don't be a bloody fool and read what I wrote.   I have no problem with Etzebeth - but he has hardly played any rugby for more than 6 months and when he did play he was not a house on fire,.    I differ from Mozart on a number of issues - but totally oppose him when it comes to  reputation selections and without game time Etzebeth is a reputation selection at this stage.

With a broken hand he will not play in the Rugby Championship as well,,  So he has zero to proof anything for a year by the time the WC starts,         

Ou maaaikie whether Eben has played or not if he is fit he gets selected. You BS about him not performing recently is absurd. 

Cloudy it was a staged to make  retardlick look good. The like the Red sea parting so it was with retardlick. 

Bet retardlick hopes Eben doesn't get selected. Hahahaha.