Petrol can explosion caused Bok duo's burn injuries

A decision by one of the Munster players to "throw petrol on the fire" has left two Springbok rugby players with burns ahead of the British and Irish Lions series.

Springbok Damian de Allende has revealed exclusively to Supersport.com what led to a bizarre "fire pit accident" that saw two Boks and two other players suffering burns on the weekend.

Munster announced that four players - Mike Haley, CJ Stander and Springboks Damian de Allende and RG Snyman suffered "superficial burns following a fire pit accident at the weekend".

Haley and Stander would return to training this week despite burns on their hands while De Allende and Snyman sustained "more substantial burns to legs, hands and face".

According to De Allende the players were enjoying themselves at a firepit when "one of the boys threw a bit of petrol over the fire".

The petrol can caught alight and exploded, leaving the players in need of hospital attention.

"We were just sitting around the fire and one of the boys threw a bit of petrol over the fire and then it caught his hand and he just tried to put it down on the floor and then the whole thing caught alight and exploded," De Allende told SuperSport.

While the players were rushed to hospital, the initial burns looked worse than expected, but upon consulting a specialist on Sunday it seemed they would be okay and not out of action for too long.

De Allende admitted it could have "been a lot worse".

"Yeah, that’s what we’ve been saying, they thought it was a lot worse when we went into hospital on Saturday night but when we saw the specialist on Sunday he said it wasn’t as bad as they got told," De Allende added.

"We should be okay in a few weeks hopefully."

Munster's statement shed little light on the incident, saying only it was an accident.

“Mike Haley, CJ Stander, Damian de Allende and RG Snyman required treatment for superficial burns following a fire pit accident at the weekend,” a statement from the club said.

“It is expected that Haley and Stander, who sustained burns to their hands, may return to training this week with availability for Friday night’s game reviewed as the week progresses.

“De Allende and Snyman, who sustained more substantial burns to legs, hands and face, will not take part in their respective training and rehabilitation programmes and will meet a specialist again later in the week.

“On Saturday, the pair were named in Jacques Nienaber’s Springbok squad for the upcoming Lions series and are expected to link up with the squad on completion of their provincial programmes.”

Munster head coach Johann van Graan, who is also a former Springbok assistant coach, added: “We are hugely relieved that the lads are all okay. The players have all been treated and are being well looked after, with Damian and RG meeting the specialist again later this week to review next steps of their recovery.”

Snyman and De Allende are due to meet up with the Springbok squad after their Rainbow Cup commitments for Munster with Snyman still on a recovery programme since injuring his ACL last August.

The news could not have come at a worse time for the Boks, especially with the management bracing themselves that No 8 and talisman Duane Vermeulen could be out with an ankle injury for a number of weeks.

While there have been rumours that Vermeulen underwent surgery on the ankle on Tuesday, no injury update has been issued by the Springboks or his franchise, the Bulls.