Springbok Flyhalf Handre Pollard will miss this year’s Rugby Championship after his was ruled out for “many months” with a knee ligament tear on Monday 14 September.
Pollard was injured while playing Top 14 rugby with Montpellier and the club announced that their number ten would be out of action for some time.
Pollard injured
The 26-year-old Springbok flyhalf who lifted the Webb Ellis trophy last November, suffered the serious knee injury in last weekend’s defeat to Racing 92.
“Following last Friday night’s match against Racing 92 at La Paris Defense Arena, the club confirm Handre Pollard’s absence for many months after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament,” the French outfit said.
“We wish him a prompt recovery,” they added.
Pollard broke his cheekbone in the Rugby World Cup final against England which delayed his arrival at Montpellier. No stranger to injury he previously contracted sepsis on an injured shoulder and incident that threatened his life let alone his career.
Pollard was hurt while attempting to tackle Racing’s Baptiste Chouzenoux in the second-half and was taken to a local hospital.
“Generally when someone leaves on a stretcher it’s never very good despite the fact there can be different degrees of knee injuries,” Montpellier coach Xavier Garbajosa said.
“I hope for him and the team it’s benign. He’s left for hospital,” he added.
Springboks Rugby Championship defence in doubt
The Springboks defence of the Rugby Championship is in doubt with the tournament moved to November due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With SA Rugby unable to get the Currie Cup underway before October, there are concerns that the Springboks will not be fit enough for the rigours.
South Africa are scheduled to open the tournament against Argentina on 7 November with the tournament hosted entirely in the Australian city of Brisbane ending on 12 December.
The Lions’ Elton Jantjies was Pollard’s back-up at last year’s World Cup in Japan while the Stormers’ Damian Willemse has made no bones about wanting to shift to number ten. The Sharks Curwin Bosch was in the best form during the few rounds of Super Rugby completed before the lockdown.
The Springboks have seen their European-based players suffering serious injuries as the North restarts rugby. Lock RG Snyman will also be sidelined for the November series after also sustaining anterior cruciate ligament damage on his Munster debut in August.
Fellow second-row Lood de Jager could be out for up to six months with a shoulder injury suffered on club duty with Sale and Toulon’s Eben Etzebeth has played just 19 minutes this season with a rib issue.
