"It's not great news on Lood. He's going to have surgery and it is probably going to be a rebuild, so will be five to six months," said Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond.
Wednesday 16 September 2020 10:02, UK
South Africa's World Cup winner Lood de Jager will require surgery on his injured shoulder and will potentially be out of action for six months.
Sale lock De Jager suffered a recurrence of the injury that forced him out of last year's Rugby World Cup final against Leicester Tigers in the Premiership earlier this month.
The 27-year-old will miss the Rugby Championship in Australia later this year as well as the build-up to the British & Irish Lions series in South Africa, which is scheduled to start next July.
"It's not great news on Lood. He's going to have surgery and it is probably going to be a rebuild, so will be five to six months," said Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond.
New Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber has seen his squad depleted in recent weeks.
Influential fly-half Handre Pollard is also set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after it was announced on Monday he had ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee while playing for French Top 14 side Montpellier.
Lock RG Snyman has also been ruled out for the remainder of the season with an ACL injury, while Eben Etzebeth is currently sidelined with a rib problem.
The Springboks have not played Test rugby since winning the World Cup in Japan last November due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while their home-based players, including captain Siya Kolisi, have been inactive since their Super Rugby teams stopped playing in March.
