Seabelo Senatla was spotted for the first time actively participating in Stormers training after a year-long absence due to serious injuries suffered in a car crash.
The speedster joined his Stormers teammates for a full contact training session at the team’s base in Bellville on Monday ahead of their two-match United Rugby Championship tour of Wales and Ireland.
Senatla was in a car accident in early May in 2023 and was withdrawn from the Stormers side that beat the Bulls in the last year’s home URC quarter-final in Cape Town.
It was later confirmed that Senatla sustained severe nerve damage to his arm, not only ruling him out of last season’s playoffs, but putting his career under serious threat, thus leaving the 31-year-old’s rugby career in limbo.
TRAUMATIC BLOW
“There’s no chance he’ll play in the final,” Dobson said at the time. “Senatla has got an arm injury that has nerve damage and it is very serious. You cannot be certain when he will play again.
“There have been several operations already and it will have long-term consequences. The next two ops will probably be decisive in determining any return to rugby.
“But we are standing by Seabelo Senatla … he is a very popular and special member of the team. It’s been a traumatic blow to us,” Dobson concluded back in May of 2023.
It is believed that, while Senatla is now back in training, he is unlikely to see playing time this season and the Stormers are instead looking to get him back on the field in the next URC campaign.
SENATLA CAREER SUMMARY
Senatla was a core part of the Stormers’ URC-winning team, scoring nine tries in 17 appearances, starting in all three playoffs against Edinburgh, Ulster and the Vodacom Bulls in Cape Town.
The former Blitzboks star looked set to continue that run in the 2022-23 season, but suffered a pectoral muscle injury in the opening game of the season against Connacht in Stellenbosch that kept him out for four months.
Senatla made his return to the field in February 2023 and took back the No 11 jersey, making eight starts, before his season ended in a car crash on the eve of the URC playoffs.
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