Giant lock Andries Bekker dealt another blow to South Africa when he was ruled out for the rest of the year with a back injury.
The 2,08m second-rower, the tallest man to play for South Africa and widely considered as the long-term replacement for veteran Victor Matfield, aggravated an old injury during the Springboks’ second Tri-Nations match against New Zealand earlier this month.
Bekker, whose father Hennie played against the All Blacks in 1981, will have surgery this week and will miss the Grand Slam end-of-year European tour. He will return for the 2011 Super 15.
“The injury is not career-threatening,” Bekker’s coach at Western Province, Allister Coetzee, told a news conference at the team’s training base in Cape Town.
“It’s just a recurrence of an old back injury and it is the right time to have it sorted out.”
Bekker was one of the standout players during the Super 14, with his athletic performances helping the Stormers to the tournament final, where they lost to the Bulls. — Reuters