Springbok career done? Steven Kitshoff injury update

A springbok career hangs by a thread.

One certainty about Paul Roos alumni is their fierce sacrifice to the game, and few display it better than double World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff.

The once rosy-cheeked red-haired Western Province boy has become a Springbok man, one of Rassie Erasmus’ most chosen disciples, well on course to reach a hundred caps; although, reaching that milestone now hangs in the balance.

The 120kg frontman is yet to play in the United Rugby Championship this season following an acute neck injury he sustained in the Currie Cup against Griquas, which doctors say could end his career.

“It’s bit of stressful one. It’s such a high area in my neck as well, C1-C2, which is a bit of an issue,” Kitsoff reported on the Box Office podcast.

Update on surgery

There is still hope for the Springbok starter, but the odds seem just as likely for it to be career-ending – like a flip of the coin, it’s 50-50.

“I just want to get it done, start the rehab process and see what happens after that,” he continued.

It wasn’t a rough passage of play that caused the freak accident, rather a routine set-piece, “It was quite a fright. It happened in the weirdest way,” he said.

“Just a normal scrum. I just felt something snap. I’m getting a neck fusion.”