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Springbok and Sharks superstar Eben Etzebeth will not make his eagerly-awaited comeback this week in the Durban team’s United Rugby Championship (URC) match against Italian outfit Zebre, a spokeperson within the Durban-based team revealed to Independent Media on Tuesday.

"Eben will not be avaliable this week," said the spokeperson.

It is, hopefully, a case of the big guy saving himself for the big stage — next week’s game at Hollywoodbets Kings Park against Irish giants Leinster. Nonetheless, South African rugby will continue to hold its breath as the Bok legend returns from a lengthy concussion-enforced break from the game.

The 33-year-old suffered a head knock in the Sharks’ Champions Cup match against the Exeter Chiefs on December 7 in 2024 in Durban and the Sharks, to their credit, have insisted that player welfare is paramount and no chances will be taken with the lock’s health.

Last week, Sharks coach John Plumtree possibly tempted fate when he said, “I’m too scared to tell you anything positive about Eben, as every time I have done that before and raised my hopes, we have ended up going backward again.

“But he is training with us and looking good. He will play before the end of this month (March).”

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has also addressed the issue of Etzebeth’s return to play. Ahead of the Boks’ recent alignment camp in Cape Town, Erasmus said he had driven to see concussion expert Dr Pierre Viviers to get a “proper understanding of the concussion set-up.”

“We will never bring a guy back too early,” Erasmus said then. “Eben must get to the stage where he is completely symptom-free.”

The Sharks are on the same page and they have postponed the most capped Springbok’s comeback for at least another week. Currently in fourth in the URC, the Sharks host lowly Zebre on Saturday (kick-off 2.45pm).

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