Du Toit nearly lost leg after freak injury

JOHANNESBURG: World Rugby Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit came close to having a leg amputated after a freak Super Rugby injury, medical staff at his Cape Town club told AFP on Tuesday.

The Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks and Western Stormers loose forward limped off with what initially seemed a minor leg knock in a match against the Auckland Blues last month.

But the blow to his leg soon turned into a medical emergency, a Stormers’ medical staff member speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP. “Pieter-Steph suffered a haematoma, which is a solid swelling of clotted blood within the tissue and is a very rare occurence,” he said.