Eastern Province Elephants captain Inny Radebe will miss the rest of the preparation fixtures after injuring his hand in the pre-season loss to the Vodacom Bulls.
Radebe was named as the EP Elephants captain for their pre-season preparation matches against the Bulls, Lions, Griquas and Cheetahs.
The 26-year-old had made an inspiring return to the field after spending the last three years in the rugby wilderness, after being offered another chance at a rugby career with EP.
However, in his first game back, Radebe suffered a broken hand in his team’s 87-10 loss to the Bulls in Pretoria this past Sunday.
Radebe suffered the injury in the first half, but bravely soldiered on until he was replaced in the second half of the match. He is set to be out for the next six weeks.
The injury will come as a massive blow to EP, as it means they have lost one of their most accomplished players and one of the few players in their squad with top-flight experience.
‘Inny fractured his hand very early,’ EP Elephants coach Peter de Villiers said after the game.
‘He was actually very brave in playing on. The hand’s definitely broken, so he won’t be playing in this series again. But we will just have to make it work.’
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Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
