Matthews to go under knife

Injuries continue to tax the Bulls in their pre-season warm-up to Super Rugby, with utility back Duncan Matthews (above) the latest to suffer a long-term blow.

The nippy wing/fullback has been at Loftus Versfeld since 2016 but has only made eight Super Rugby appearances due to some rotten luck in terms of injuries. He fell awkwardly in a tackle during last weekend’s Super Rugby Superhero Sunday double-header in Cape Town against the Stormers and the resulting twisting was too much for his ankle ligaments.

Bulls team doctor Herman Rossouw confirmed yesterday that the 24-year-old Matthews will have surgery today and will be out of action for six-to-eight weeks.

Deciding on his first-choice wings is starting to look like quite a taxing task for coach Pote Human, with Springbok Travis Ismaiel also out injured.

Human’s remaining wings are Divan Rossouw, Cornal Hendricks, Jade Stighling and Rosko Specman, while Jesse Kriel, Dylan Sage, Johnny Kotze and Stedman Gans can also play out wide.

The Bulls play the Sharks in their final warm-up match, in Ballito on Saturday, and while KZN coach Robert du Preez has indicated his desire to field as close as possible to his full-strength side, Human may mix-and-match more after many of his frontline players enjoyed a 40-minute run against the Stormers.

Japan-based players will also come into the picture ahead of the Super Rugby opener against the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld on February 16.