Double blow for Stormers

Heinz Schenk

Luck continues to desert the Stormers in terms of injuries.

Battered and bruised following a 45-28 defeat to the Crusaders at the weekend, the Cape franchise now face the prospect of having to tackle the Highlanders on Friday without two of their best performers.

In fact, bruising lock JD Schickerling (above) will not be available again until at least the back end of this year’s campaign after sustaining a nasty bicep injury.

“We’re still waiting for definitive answer, but for now he’s out for up to 12 weeks. It’s a torn bicep, it doesn’t look good,” said coach Robbie Fleck from the team’s base in Queenstown on New Zealand’s South Island yesterday.

“It’s a big loss, JD was outstanding at the weekend. His workrate, attitude and sheer brutality against three All Black locks was something to behold. We’ll miss him.”

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the 22-year-old’s injury was the incident that led to it.

“It happened as late as the last scrum of the game. We were pushing for a fifth try and his arm got caught in the mass of bodies. There really wasn’t anything anyone could do about it. It was just one of those freakish moments,” said Fleck.

The prognosis on 20-yearold Cobus Wiese is slightly less gloomy but it’s still uncertain whether he’ll be ready to play in Dunedin.

It really is a blow as his 1.97m, 103kg physique provided balance to the Stormers’ mix of loose forwards.

“Cobus was our internal Manof-the-Match afterwards,” said Fleck.