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Johannesburg - The Vodacom Blue Bulls hopes in this year’s Absa Currie Cup took a massive blow when Springbok midfielder Jaco Pretorius was almost certainly ruled out for the first half of the competition.
Pretorius, one of the few remaining senior players in a side ravaged by national call-ups, will see specialist Mark Ferguson in Johannesburg on Tuesday for a scan which will determine how long his groin injury will keep him out.
But while there is hope for a better diagnosis, Bulls team doctor Org Strauss didn’t put his chances at very positive. “It looks like at least six weeks,” Strauss said on the injury, “But we will wait for the scans results before we will know for sure.”
The problem for the Bulls which became rather apparent when they faced the Sharks on the weekend, was the lack of senior leadership in the side and losing Pretorius won’t help that cause much.
There was a sombre feeling about the practice session on Monday, as the team licked their wounds after the mauling they received in Durban, knowing full well that they were far from their own standards.
And Dr Strauss had his hands full on the injury front, as both midfielders Stefan Watermeyer and Stephan Dippenaar were missing from the training. Watermeyer is struggling with a hip injury, while Dippenaar has a groin strain.
Then, to make matters worse, winger Gerhard van den Heever sat out the practice session with an ankle injury, while captain Gary Botha and prop Rossouw de Klerk both missed the training with a neck strain.
Still, despite the injury worries, Dr Strauss was confident that all, bar Pretorius, would be fit and ready for Saturday’s clash with the Cheetahs.
