Bulls duo go under knife

Johannesburg - The Bulls are likely to lose the services of hooker Callie Visagie for the first few weeks of the 2015 season as he undergoes shoulder surgery in Pretoria on Tuesday.

According to the supersport.com website, Visagie and lock Grant Hattingh are the two medical headaches for the Bulls as the season has ended, and both will undergo surgery this week to rectify injuries that have plagued them the entire season.

Visagie will undergo shoulder surgery and depending on how serious the damage is – which can only be ascertained when the operation is done – he could be out for anything from a month to four months.

If it is the worst case scenario it would mean he would be in doubt for the pre-season training and only return close to the start of the 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby season, and in all likelihood miss the opening few games.

This would not be a train smash as the Bulls will have their Bok hooker Adriaan Strauss arriving after the November Bok tour, and also have another Bok in Bandise Maku waiting in the wings to play as well.

Hattingh will have his ankle operated on and will be out of commission for eight weeks, allowing him to return early in the new year.

The Bulls tighthead prop Marcel van der Merwe was ruled out on Monday for between four and six weeks with a knee injury, meaning he will miss out on the Bok tour of Ireland, England, Italy and Wales next month.