Springboks star Jesse Kriel sustained a brutal facial injury while playing for the Canon Eagles two weeks ago in the Japanese Top League.
The 27-year-old centre scored two second half tries to inspire his side’s first win of the season, but most fans don’t know that Kriel played the final 15 minutes with blood pouring from his face.
Kriel suffered a nasty head clash with Yamaha Jubilo fly half Sam Greene, which opened up a huge gash on his forehead and while most players would leave the field, the powerful centre continued playing.
The illusive ball carrier almost bagged himself a hat-trick try in the corner just a minute after his nasty collision and was still running right to the very last whistle, despite the blood continuing to gush from his forehead.
The game finished 32-40 to the Eagles and footage of Kriel’s vicious head clash, two tries and his blooded face are available below:
Kriel has earned 46 caps for the Springboks since making his debut in 2015 and he moved to Japan in 2020 having originally featured in South Africa’s 2019 World Cup-winning squad before withdrawing through injury in the pool stages.
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