Sharks wait anxiously for Kolisi scan after Springbok skipper's knee injury in Munster tie

The Sharks and Springboks are anxiously waiting to know the severity of national men’s team captain Siya Kolisi’s knee injury.

Kolisi went down in a tackle near the right-hand touchline after three enterprising minutes of their United Rugby Championship (URC) draw with Munster at Kings Park on Saturday night.

It looked like the flanker hyperextended his leg as it hit the ground. Sharks medics tried to strap him up and Kolisi continued playing briefly for a few minutes but left the field after only eight minutes.

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Phepsi Buthelezi replaced Kolisi from the bench as the Sharks laboured to a 22-22 draw during which they blew a 19-point second-half lead.

It’s the second injury to a key Springbok after Eben Etzebeth injured his shoulder in a Champions Cup game against the same opponents earlier this month.

The injury ended Etzebeth's season but the lock is expected to be fit for SA's Rugby World Cup defence.

"We’ll have to wait for the doctor to do a proper assessment on Siya’s knee and give the feedback to us," said Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell after the match.

"It was unfortunate that we lost Siya so early in the game. He is influential as a captain and as a player.

"[But] that’s why you have 23 players, not just 15, so we had enough quality players to stand in for him and get into the field.

"I think Phepsi is a really good player. There was enough quality to fill Siya’s boots."

During the wretched Kings Park outing, the Sharks also lost their flyhalf Curwin Bosch. The two injury losses, if unavailable for the next two weeks, could be a huge blow to their mission improbable to face Leinster in Dublin on the URC quarter-final weekend of 6 May.

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