Bulls struggle with injury woes and Bok call-up
THINGS can change dramatically in rugby in a week … ask the Springboks and the Bulls.
The national team’s injury woes in the midfield have had a domino effect on the Pretoria side’s Currie Cup team.
With the injury and retirement of Bok skipper Jean de Villiers at the weekend, Bulls centre Jan Serfontein was called up as a replacement.
The midfield misery for the Bulls has been compounded by injury.
Until a week ago, the Bulls boasted healthy depth when it came to midfield options, with coach Nollis Marais having the tough task of deciding who to play and who to leave out.
“Funny enough, just last week William (Small-Smith) asked me, ‘Coach, what’s happening?’. So it goes to show you never know what will happen in the future,” Marais said yesterday.
Small-Smith, who was unsure of when he would get a run after a comeback from a concussion injury before the Currie Cup kicked off, could find himself starting in the No 12 jersey alongside Dries Swanepoel when the Bulls take on the Eastern Province Kings at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.
Marais and the Bulls’ medical staff are keeping a close eye on in-form inside centre Burger Odendaal, with their fingers crossed that the skilled No 12 will be passed fit before this weekend’s clash.
Odendaal suffered a knock to the knee in the Bulls’ win over the Sharks in Durban last weekend. Despite recovering from the injury, he suffered an ankle injury at training yesterday, placing doubt on his availability.
Should Odendaal be deemed unfit for this weekend, Marais will be faced with a major problem of finding a backup midfielder for the bench.
Dan Kriel, who would have been next in line, is also a concern, as he is still nursing a hip injury that will be assessed again tomorrow.
“These backs are softies,” Marais quipped before the smile turned into a frown. “I’m a little concerned about Burger…. we’ll know by Thursday.
“It doesn’t look too serious at the moment. It’s going to be a bit of a problem if he is not fit. Dan Kriel is also out injured and will only start training on Thursday. I’ve found one or two options which I think will be helpful for this weekend. Hopefully that works.”
Marais’ only option will be to pair up Small-Smith, at inside centre, with Swanepoel on his outside.