The DHL Stormers have lost a veteran to injury ahead of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with Benetton on Saturday.
Stormers skills coach Labeeb Levy revealed that loosehead prop Lizo Gqoboka suffered an arm injury in the tour-opening loss to Glasgow Warriors.
MORE: Skosan ready to fly for Stormers
Gqoboka has returned to Cape Town, where he has undergone scans, but will definitely be ruled out of Saturday’s match in Treviso.
The loosehead prop is the latest to join a growing Stormers injury list, which includes centres Dan du Plessis and Ruhan Nel, utility back Suleiman Harzenberg and captain Salmaan Moerat.
Levy also confirmed that the Stormers’ World Cup-winning Springbok contingent will not be joining them on tour.
“They’re not going to feature on this tour. There are plans to get them into the system in the December games,” Levy said.
“There are protocols involved … if they had lost in the (World Cup) quarter-finals, then they would probably [have been on the tour].
“But obviously, with the awesome performance that they put in and the physicality that they brought, they need a break and there are protocols from week to week.
“The more they played obviously affected us, but we’re happy for them and we’re looking forward to having them back,” Levy added.
“But we’re also very comfortable with the current crew that we’ve got. But when they come in, we’ll embrace them, obviously.”
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images