Namibia star Johan Retief has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup clash against Uruguay after being bitten by a spider. According to French daily L’Equipe, the third rower suffered complications after he was bit on the chest by a spider at the team hotel in Aix-les-Bains, approximately 80 miles east of Lyon.
‘Johan is very unlucky, and we are disappointed because he is a player who means a lot to us since he can play at No 4 and in the third row.’ Retief’s absence compounds an already difficult situation for the Welwitschias, who are without the injured Le Roux Malan and the suspended Johan Deysel.
Flanker Wian Conradie and fullback Divan Rossouw will also miss the game against Los Teros, who like Namibia are still winless in the tournament. Of the absences, Deysel’s is the most controversial.
Retief had to undergo treatment because of an infection caused by the bite and will miss his team’s last Pool A match on Wednesday. ‘This is something we couldn’t have predicted,’ said Namibia assistant coach Chrisander Botha.
The Namibian captain was suspended for six games on Tuesday for the dangerous head-on-head tackle on France captain Antoine Dupont. Dupont suffered a facial fracture that required surgery on Friday night, a day after the game in Marseille where France won 96-0.
Deysel’s yellow card for the incident soon after halftime was upgraded to red by a bunker review. He accepted his offense was red-card worthy at his judicial hearing on Tuesday. For a sanction, the panel started at 12 weeks and halved it after taking into account Deysel’s disciplinary record and apology to Dupont.
The panel ‘categorized the act of foul play as being at the top end of the scale of seriousness of offending, having regard to the degree of recklessness involved in the offending, the vulnerability of the victim player and the significant injury to him.’
His ban will start against Uruguay, with five other games to be determined. He could reduce the ban by one game if he attended tackle school. France hasn’t said when Dupont will return and he is expected to miss Les Bleus’ final Pool A match against Italy on October 6.
