Sharks coach John Plumtree confirmed that his star flyhalf, Patrick Lambie,  will be out of action for three weeks with a finger injury he picked up in their last match on tour against the Chiefs.

 

“He’s probably going to miss the next three games, he needs a pin put in the finger, if all goes well, he will be back after our bye week,” said Plumtrees.

Lambie is currently the leading points scorer in the Super Rugby Series with 74 coming from two tries, 11 conversions and 14 penalty goals.

The upshot means that former Bulls and Cheetahs number 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter will earn his first start for the Sharks when they take on the Crusaders at Twickenham on Saturday.

“It’s an opportunity for Jacques-Louis, he’s been patient and obviously done a fair bit of training while he hasn’t had a lot of game time, so now’s his time,” said Plumtree.

“Everyone else is okay for training, we will make a decision on JP Pietersen later in week, there’s a possibility he’ll be available,”he added.

The Sharks leave for London on Thursday where they will play in the first Super Rugby match to be staged outside of the Southern Hemisphere.