Eben Etzebeth Forced Out of Stormers Side in New Zealand Following Concussion

Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth has been ruled out of the Stormers Super Rugby tussle with the Wellington Hurricanes in the New Zealand capital on Saturday after failing to pass concussion protocols.

Etzebeth took a knock to the head in the 35-8 victory over the Jaguares last weekend, but was named in the team’s starting line-up on Thursday.

“We were hopeful that Eben would be fit to play against the Hurricanes, but unfortunately he did not come through some of the tests later in the week, so we made the call to give him another week to recover fully,” Stormers coach Robbie Fleck said in a media release on Friday.

JD Schickerling, who toured with the Springboks for their November Internationals last year, comes into the side with Salmaan Moerat moving onto the bench.

The Stormers started their season with a 40-3 loss to the Bulls but have since won three in a row.

Their clash with the Hurricanes is the first of four tour matches that also includes games against the Auckland Blues, Queensland Reds and Melbourne Rebels.

(Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Nick Mulvenney)