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JJ Harmse
Pretoria – The Blue Bulls are anticipating a blue Monday.
Captain Gary Botha is expected to know then whether he will miss the rest of the Currie Cup after injuring medial ligaments in a knee during Saturday’s 12-15 defeat to Western Province at Newlands.
Botha already left the field in the first half and was replaced by Bandise Maku, who worked hard in the loose but was not accurate with his lineout throws.
“I had a similar injury in England when I played there last year,” Botha told Sport24.
“I was out of action for 12 weeks then. I had to choose between surgery and rehabilitation, and decided on the later. There will probably be clarity on the injury on Monday, but I’m not very hopeful.”
The hooker was very satisfied with his team’s performance in spite of the defeat.
“I think we did good work. No loss is a good thing, but we are definitely headed in the right direction,” said Botha.
Maku will start against Griquas on Friday, with Henri Bantjes set to be used as substitute hooker.
“He is fit because he has been playing club rugby for the past few weeks,” Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said about Bantjes.
“He is someone who has come through our structures and was a very good player in the junior sides. I believe he’ll be up to the challenge.”
Ludeke will probably also have to find replacements for Dewald Potgieter and Derick Kuün after both were injured on Saturday.
Potgieter is set to be replaced by youngster CJ Stander, who impressed as a substitute.
Okkie Kruger is also fit again and is likely to come in for Kuün if the fetching flank does not recover in time. Deon Stegmann is still three weeks away from being fit.
Ludeke believes his side won the psychological battle against their arch-enemies.
“We travelled to the Cape with few people giving us a chance. We could easily have won it in spite of the injury setbacks. It was very disruptive and to make matters worse all those guys were leaders in the team,” he said about losing Botha, Potgieter and Kuün.
“The guys really made me proud. We were under heavy pressure for a lengthy period, but managed to hang in there. If I look at how much the team has improved since we took a B team to Newlands in the Super 14, I’m very satisfied.”
Ludeke is not worried about the big gap that has opened between the Bulls and the two front-runners – WP and the Sharks, who play one another on Saturday.
“There is still a lot of rugby to be played and the competition is a long way from over.”
Pretoria – The Blue Bulls are anticipating a blue Monday.
Captain Gary Botha is expected to know then whether he will miss the rest of the Currie Cup after injuring medial ligaments in a knee during Saturday’s 12-15 defeat to Western Province at Newlands.
Botha already left the field in the first half and was replaced by Bandise Maku, who worked hard in the loose but was not accurate with his lineout throws.
“I had a similar injury in England when I played there last year,” Botha told Sport24.
“I was out of action for 12 weeks then. I had to choose between surgery and rehabilitation, and decided on the later. There will probably be clarity on the injury on Monday, but I’m not very hopeful.”
The hooker was very satisfied with his team’s performance in spite of the defeat.
“I think we did good work. No loss is a good thing, but we are definitely headed in the right direction,” said Botha.
Maku will start against Griquas on Friday, with Henri Bantjes set to be used as substitute hooker.
“He is fit because he has been playing club rugby for the past few weeks,” Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said about Bantjes.
“He is someone who has come through our structures and was a very good player in the junior sides. I believe he’ll be up to the challenge.”
Ludeke will probably also have to find replacements for Dewald Potgieter and Derick Kuün after both were injured on Saturday.
Potgieter is set to be replaced by youngster CJ Stander, who impressed as a substitute.
Okkie Kruger is also fit again and is likely to come in for Kuün if the fetching flank does not recover in time. Deon Stegmann is still three weeks away from being fit.
Ludeke believes his side won the psychological battle against their arch-enemies.
“We travelled to the Cape with few people giving us a chance. We could easily have won it in spite of the injury setbacks. It was very disruptive and to make matters worse all those guys were leaders in the team,” he said about losing Botha, Potgieter and Kuün.
“The guys really made me proud. We were under heavy pressure for a lengthy period, but managed to hang in there. If I look at how much the team has improved since we took a B team to Newlands in the Super 14, I’m very satisfied.”
Ludeke is not worried about the big gap that has opened between the Bulls and the two front-runners – WP and the Sharks, who play one another on Saturday.
“There is still a lot of rugby to be played and the competition is a long way from over.”
