Etzebeth set to be unleashed against Pumas

After nine months on the sidelines‚ which included missing the entire 2018 Super Rugby campaign‚ lock Eben Etzebeth is set to be unleashed against the Pumas on Saturday.

Etzebeth‚ 26‚ suffered shoulder nerve damage playing against Wales in Cardiff in November.

His recovery hit several setbacks along the way and Etzebeth said recently that it was similar to the injury that ended former Bok prop Deon Carstens’s career.

But on Monday Bok coach Rassie Erasmus confirmed that Etzebeth would be considered for selection against Argentina for the Rugby Championship opener at King’s Park.

“We just received the clearance from the specialist‚” Erasmus said in Durban.

“Eben has been training full on with us since the end of the Stormers’ Super Rugby campaign‚ but we’ve been waiting on this [an official all-clear from a neurosurgeon].

“However, Eben’s match fitness is a concern and it’s for that reason that we won’t see him playing much more than 60 minutes this week.

“I’d prefer to start a player who is in this situation than play him from the bench.

“If we start someone else and then there is an injury in the first minute‚ we might be in trouble.”

Etzebeth trained with the Stormers in the final weeks of their campaign and one of the biggest challenges coach Robbie Fleck faced‚ was keeping Etzebeth in check.

The 67-test veteran was his usual aggressive and physical self in training‚ even though he was not yet 100% fit.

Fleck said he would not have any qualms starting with Etzebeth despite the long layoff and Erasmus clearly thinks the same.