Johannesburg - Derick Hougaard definitely won't be coming to the DHL Stormers to help them out of their potential flyhalf crisis as he recently underwent an operation that will keep him out of rugby until October.
The former Bulls pivot has had his name floated in the media as a possible back-up to Peter Grant now that the other two flyhalves, Gary van Aswegen and Lionel Cronje, are both out injured.
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee said at the weekend that while Kurt Coleman is flying to Australia, he was prepared to look outside the current squad for reinforcements.
However Saracens' Cape based coaching consultant and adviser Brendan Venter has confirmed that Hougaard recently had surgery done to a torn Achilles and won't be able to play again for several months.
The good news for the Stormers though is that Grant looks almost certain to be ready for Saturday's game against the Brumbies, with Coetzee saying that he was 95% certain of being available for selection after recovering well from the ankle injury that prevented him from playing against the Blues last week.