Sharks prop Tendai Mtawarira could miss the first eight Super Rugby matches of the new season after he broke his ankle.
Springboks prop expected to miss 'three to four months' of action
Sharks prop Tendai Mtawarira could miss the first eight Super Rugby matches of the new season after he broke his ankle in training.
The 26-year-old, who has been capped 32 times by South Africa, is set to be on the sidelines for "three to four months" after sustaining the injury on Friday.
Scans on the ankle have confirmed that Mtawarira will now sit out the opening exchanges of the campaign, which will get underway on February 24 when Sharks face the Bulls.
"Mtawarira has an ankle fracture sustained in a training session when he went over after being tackled," Sharks doctor Ewoudt van der Linde said.
"His expected return to play is three to four months."
Blow
The timing of the injury comes as a blow to Sharks after Eugene van Staden moved to French club Biarritz, while John Smit joined Saracens after the World Cup.
But Sharks coach John Plumtree is looking at the performances of emerging props Dale Chadwick, Julian Redelinghuys and Wiehahn Herbst with eyes on a replacement for the forward known as the "Beast".
However, the injury is not expected to affect Mtawarira's hopes of featuring in the three-match Test series in June when the Springboks England.
Plumtree reassured that Mtawarira should be available ahead of the summer saying: "He'll probably be training in six weeks' time."
