'South Africa could be just as p****d off with us injuring Lood'
Sale boss Alex Sanderson has no issue with the Springboks over Faf de Klerk coming back to the Gallagher Premiership club injured and facing up to five months on the sidelines due to a hip flexor issue that requires an operation. The scrum-half originally suffered the injury some months ago playing against the Lions but he played on with it during the Rugby Championship and it is only now that the issue is getting fully rectified.
Aside from de Klerk being unavailable for next month’s Springboks three-match tour of the UK, he will also miss a large chunk of the domestic season with Sale, but club boss Sanderson has refused to whine about the loss of his scrum-half even though he admits he is not happy about it.
“People get injured all the time and South Africa could be just as p****d off with us injuring Lood (de Jager), for instance, which wasn’t intentional but he did get injured, broke his knee, broke his ankle and he was late to the Lions Test, late into camp. You can nit-pick on any one of these and start pointing fingers but I am not going to do that because you would end up being quite a bitter old man I would imagine. It [injuries] are part of the game,” shrugged Sanderson.
“We had trouble getting the scans back from Australia for obvious reasons but we did get the radiologist’s report or at least Fares Haddad did who is the world-renowned specialist in this kind of surgery in London. He does all the footballers, I think he did Ronaldo. When it comes to that high level of expertise they don’t really give you options. It’s yes it needs an operation or no it doesn’t and you take his advice as gospel, but yeah it needs an operation.
“It’s a ligament. From what I understand from the radiologist’s report – and I haven’t seen the scans so I could be wrong – there are two ligaments joined to your hip flexor and one of them is torn. Not through completely but it is on its last tendrils so it needs to be reconnected so that it is able to function properly because otherwise it would ultimately tear through and the other one would have too much strain on it to play the game so it needs redoing.”
"Those are three options…"
– Faf de Klerk is back in Manchester after his long spell with the Springboks, but he has returned with an injury that Sale are still unsure about#Sharks #SALvHAR #Springbokshttps://t.co/KkfmMDxtYy
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 13, 2021
The prognosis is that de Klerk will likely be five months on the sidelines and won’t return to the Sale selection until March at the earliest but both the player and his coach are confident of an earlier return than that. “I’m hoping it is a bit less than that,” continued Sanderson. “Four maybe. He is a quick healer, Faf. He has only got little legs, there is not a lot to heal. You have got to stay positive. I am not happy about it but what can you do?
“He is very positive. Optimism is a virtue of his. He has brought his girlfriend of his back from South Africa so that will keep him positive for a month or two. That was important to be fair because he needed looking after, especially when you are rehabbing, you need someone around to give you a cuddle, make you a cup of tea, and he has got that now. I’m happy for him in his personal life. If anyone is going to come back from an injury like this as strong and as motivated it is going to be him because he has got seemingly limitless energy.”
The hip flexor operation is something Marland Yarde, de Klerk’s backline teammate at Sale, had done when he was 18 and because the No9’s injury happened while on international duty with South Africa, the bills will be picked up by the Springboks and not by the Manchester-based club. “You can play through these things but not for a long period of time and he [Yarde] is looking sharper now after that (hip flexor operation) and a reconstruction than he has looked for a long time. So it is possible, more than possible, to come back.
“They [South Africa] are picking up the tab. They have to. They are insured. It’s easy in hindsight to say yes they should have (not played him) but like I said last week, there is no organisation out there that goes out to deliberately injure a player or at that level to be that negligent. I don’t believe that, I can’t believe that they mistreated him deliberately.”
Alex Sanderson has revealed to @heagneyl ??? the hilariously awkward country club moment that he first bumped into Steve Diamond after he succeeded him as the Sale director of rugby earlier this year#Sharks #GallagherPremhttps://t.co/YJyrl00Yht
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 19, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments