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Emergency surgery for Bulls' Liebenberg

Cape Town - SA Under-20 captain Hanro Liebenberg is in a serious but stable condition in hospital in Pretoria after suffering a ruptured small intestine during Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup win over Western Province at Loftus Versfeld.

Liebenberg left the field late in the first half after a heavy tackle that saw him limp off, and there were no signs of the rupture in the scan that the Bulls medical personnel did after the game on Saturday night.

But on Sunday Liebenberg didn’t feel well and headed back to the medical personnel, who rushed him to hospital where he was admitted in a serious condition and diagnosed with a ruptured small intestine and bruised colon from the tackle.

There was widespread fear on Monday that the injury could be career-ending as Liebenberg underwent emergency surgery in Pretoria, but the operation was a success, with a second operation scheduled for Wednesday.

The SA Under-20 captain is set to miss most of the rest of the Currie Cup season because of the injury, and will face a slow road to recovery after the rupture released gas into his body that deteriorated his condition fast.

“He will make a full recovery,” Dr Org Strauss, the Bulls’ team doctor confirmed, “But he is very sick at the moment and it will take a while to recover. We are looking at around six weeks recovery time for him but we could well see him back in action before the end of the season.”

The chances are however that it may take a bit longer, depending on how his body reacts to the surgery, so it may well be that his season may be over.

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