Rynardt Elstadt: Suffered a rib injury
Western Province flanker Rynhardt Elstadt has been ruled out for three weeks after sustaining a rib injury in the win over the Free State Cheetahs last week.
According to reports in the South African media Elstadt suffered a hairline fracture to his ribs in the 29-22 victory in Bloemfontein.
This after Western Province initially announced that Elstadt would be fine after he only sustained "a few bumps and bruises".
This is a major blow for WP coach Allister Coetzee who is already without several of his loose forwards.
Captain Schalk Burger, Nick Koster, Siya Kolisi and Nizaam Carr are already on the sidelines through injury while Duane Vermeulen is on duty with the Springboks in the Rugby Championship.
Coetzee admitted that losing one of the squad's few Super Rugby players was a huge setback.
"Elstadt's injury leaves our loose forward department empty," he said.
"We'll now have to go back and have a really good look for replacements."
WP will also be without the services of wing Ederies Arendse who is set to be out for six weeks with a shoulder injury.
"The injury to Ederies' shoulder rotator cuff is far worse than anticipated and it will need a long-term lay-off, say at least six weeks," explained Coetzee.
It was not all bad news, however, as Coetzee announced that full-back Joe Pietersen (wrist) and flank Tyrone Holmes (shoulder) have both recovered from their injuries and are available for selection for this weekend's match the Sharks in Durban.
"It's a challenge to decide whether Joe starts off on the bench or in the run-on XV," he said.
"He's been out of action for three weeks and it's not always fair to expect a player back from injury to slot in straight away.
"As a coach, I like continuity (in team selection) and one is mindful that Gio Aplon has just played one of his best games at full-back against the Cheetahs."
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