Springbok star Kolbe 'sidelined for several weeks' with broken thumb

The 28-year-old World Cup winner sustained the injury in an European Challenge Cup match against Treviso last weekend.

Kolbe underwent a "successful" operation on Wednesday, but will be "kept out of action for several weeks", the club said in a statement.

Kolbe will miss out on the showdown with his former club Toulouse on Saturday, a match that has been moved to a 60 000 sell-out Stade Velodrome in Marseille.

He will also be a bystander as Toulon battle to make the top six play-off places in the Top 14. They currently sit ninth on 51 points, five points from Racing 92 in sixth.

The last remaining Top 14 matches of the regulation season after Toulouse are against Bordeaux-Begles, Pau and Racing, while Toulon also take on London Irish in the quarter-final of the Challenge Cup on 8 May.

Springbok fans will hope Kolbe returns to full fitness before the Boks open their 2022 campaign with a three-Test home series against Wales in July.

The first Test is scheduled for Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on 2 July, followed by matches in Bloemfontein (9 July) and Cape Town (16 July).

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