Lood on the sidelines for at least four months

THE euphoria of the Bulls’ away victory over the Lions was extinguished yesterday with the news that captain Lood de Jager would effectively miss the rest of the Super Rugby season.

De Jager, pictured, has had some rotten luck on the injury front since he joined the Bulls two years ago sitting out a large portion of the 2018 Super Rugby campaign after suffering a pectoral muscle injury in May last year.

He hurt his shoulder in the Bulls’ loss to the Jaguares in Buenos Aires and was initially expected to miss two to three weeks of rugby.

But Bulls team doctor Herman Rossouw, confirmed the bad news late yesterday afternoon after De Jager sought a second opinion.

“Lood de Jager, who injured his shoulder a week ago against the Jaguares consulted another specialist in Cape Town and the decision was made that he would undergo surgery tomorrow (Tuesday),” Rossouw said.

“It means he will be on the sideline for at least four months which means he will only return at the end of Super Rugby.”

He will effectively miss the rest of the Super Rugby, while he will be in a race against time to be fit for the Rugby Championship at the end of July.

Even if he is fully fit, it would be touch and go as he will be looking to get some game time to instil some confidence that he will be at his best for the Springboks.

His return is expected mere months before the start of the Rugby World Cup in September, which would weigh heavy on Bok coach Rassie Erasmus’ mind when selecting his final group for the global showpiece.

De Jager recovered well from his pectoral muscle injury at the end of the 2018 season where he featured for the Boks off the bench in the November internationals against England and Scotland. |