Two injury worries for Kings after Edinburgh thrashing

Cape Town - The Southern Kings squad that played Edinburgh in the PRO14 Round 13 match in Scotland returned home late on Monday.

While the side was left disappointed following their 38-0 defeat to Edinburgh at Murrayfield, the team doctor, Gershwin Kortje, breathed a sigh of relief to have returned with minimal injuries after the first match of 2019.

The only injury concerns expressed by Kortje are those of centre Tertius Kruger (hand) and fullback Masixole Banda (leg).

“We are fortunate to have returned with no major injuries from the short tour to Scotland. There are a few knocks and bruises, as can be expected,” he said on Tuesday.

“We do, however, have Tertius Kruger going for X-rays on Tuesday after injuring his hand in the weekend’s match. We will only be able to know the extent of the injury after the X-ray results are available.

“Masixole Banda also got a knock to the leg. We will be assessing that injury this week to ascertain how serious it is.”

Dr Kortje also confirmed that there will also be an assessment of all the players on the Isuzu Southern Kings’ injury list this week to gauge their progress so far.

“We will also have a look at the players who have been on our injury list to see how far off they are from making a return to play. We cannot at this stage confirm whether there are any players from that who will be fit for our next match against the Cheetahs until they are assessed.”

The Kings next take on the Cheetahs in a South African derby on Saturday, January 19 in Port Elizabeth.

The current Kings injury list is as follows:

Martin Dreyer (knee, out for the season)

Bobby de Wee (shoulder, out for the season)

Henry “Bakkies” Brown (ankle)

Xandre Vos (neck)

Oliver Zono (knee)

Sibusiso Sithole (knee)

Rossouw de Klerk (chest)