The Vodacom Bulls are set to shake up their pack a bit following a spate of injuries, but at least had the good news that the ankle injury to utility forward Cobus Wiese wasn’t as bad as first expected.
Wiese could well be back before the Stormers return match on 1 March if he heals in time, but the likelihood is that he will only be back after the break the Bulls have after that game, with their next game against Leinster on 22 March at Loftus Versfeld.
Coach Jake White said that Wiese’s injury assessment was much better than expected, and that he would be healed sooner than the Bulls initially thought.
“It is not as bad as they thought. Those ankle injuries can be anything between four and eight weeks and I think it will probably be on the lower side. It is one of those things that we will have to wait and see in the next few weeks,” White said.
“We have two weeks off after the Stormers, so what I am sure about is that he will be back after the break. Whether he will be back in the next few weeks obviously depends on how quick he heals.”
The bigger question about captain Elrigh Louw was in the process of being addressed as Louw was operated on Monday to repair his knee and then would start the long road back to fitness thereafter.
The first operation was a success, but Louw had to wait two weeks since his injury against the Lions for the swelling to go down before he could be operated on again.
The Bulls, White said, would treat the injury conservatively and give Louw as much time as he needed to recover before they looked to bring him back into competitive action.
White said that the injury was similar to that suffered by hooker Akker van der Merwe when he was at Sale Sharks.
“He has gone in for his operation today. The specialist is very confident he can sort it out. Obviously it is a massive operation,” White said. “I spoke to Akker (Van der Merwe) and his injury was worse - he broke his leg and he is still playing.
“There is no reason why with today’s medical advances that they can’t get him back to normal. We won’t rush it, and we will give them enough time so that they don’t rush it. Everything is fine, he is going in today and he has done everything he can to get the swelling down.
“Whatever help he has got from our staff has been to get the swelling down, because they don’t want too much blood and swelling around the injuries. So they can operate properly.”
In other team news, Marcell Coetzee will sit out the Sharks game as he failed an HIA and needs to complete the return to play protocols, but World Cup winner Marco van Staden will be ready to start again.
White joked that as Coetzee was the captain and now unavailable, like Louw and Ruan Nortje, that nobody in the squad wanted to be captain this week.
“Marcell is just HIA - he just has to follow that protocol and he will be back in 10 or so days,” White explained.
“Marco is back, so I would have had to give Marco game time but sometimes these cards are dealt for you anyway. Saying that, Marcell played very well and he has been playing very well in the last few weeks. And let’s not forget he is another captain so we are without Elrigh, Ruan and now Marcell.
“Nobody wants to be made captain this week.”
The Bulls will name their side for the Sharks game on Friday.
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🏆Vodacom Bulls vs Hollywoodbets Sharks
đź“… Saturday, 15 February 2025
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