Sharks won't rush Lambie back into action
Pat Lambie is unlikely to feature in the Cell C Sharks clash with the Sunwolves in Durban this Friday.
The Sharks pivot has been following return-to-play protocols after he was concussed in the Springboks' first Test against Ireland in June. According to Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold, Lambie was still experiencing some symptoms over the weekend.
He was expected to do some do some tests at Kings Park on Tuesday to assess his condition.
"He is still feeling slight symptoms, but he’s definitely feeling a lot better when we spoke to him at the Craven Week yesterday and certainly feeling more buoyed about his return,” Gold said.
“I think he is going to start doing some exercise-induced stuff now and hopefully, if there are no symptoms after that, he will be back sooner rather than later.”
It’s now been four weeks since Lambie was knocked-out at Newlands. The seriousness of the concussion speaks for itself, and with vast knowledge of the dangers of concussion and stricter return-to-play protocals, Gold said they were in not rush to get Lambie on the field.
“I spoke to Allister Coetzee, and he pointed to the fact that Frans Malherbe was out for 3 months, so you can’t mess around with concussion and we won’t.”
As for the rest of his squad’s condition, Gold was optimistic that the likes of Paul Jordaan could be available for selection for Friday’s clash.
“He is looking like an option. He’s a guy we may give until Thursday and if we do choose to give him that long, does it not make sense to then just give him an extra two days of recovery and make sure he is fit and raring to go for next week.”
“That’s assuming we have enough cover. If Andre comes through and JP is playing, then we may not necessarily have to rush him back. We will assess that after training today,” Gold added.
The Sharks will be waiting on Stephan Lewies and Jean-Luc du Preez, who picked up knocks in the win over the Cheetahs. Du Preez was slightly concussed and he will be monitored throughout the week.
Gold also intimated that the Sharks would rest some of their players, namely Beast Mtawarira, this week.
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