Bitter blow for Whiteley and the Lions

JOHANNESBURG: Lions team doctor Rob Collins has said no one is to blame for Warren Whiteley suffering a torn ligament in his pelvis – also known as sportsman’s groin – which will see him miss the rest of the 2017 Super Rugby season.

“It’s not a normal rugby injury, but any athlete that does a lot of running can get it,” said Collins yesterday.

“It’s obviously been worn for a while and now it’s torn. It’s really unfortunate, but no one is to blame, nobody did anything wrong.

“The good news is Warren is excellent when it comes to rehabilitation work. He’s one of the most professional guys I’ve dealt with regarding this sort of thing, so if all goes well, he’ll be back before eight weeks.”

Collins stated Whiteley’s recovery would take between six and eight weeks. “No operation is required ... it’s virtually impossible to operate there anyway, so we’ll try strengthen the muscles around the ligament, allow it to settle and heal itself.”

The 29-year-old, who recently led the Springboks to a 3-0 series win against France, will now miss the rest of the Super Rugby campaign. He’ll sit out the remaining round-robin fixtures against the Sunwolves (this Saturday) and the Sharks (July 15) as well as the knockout rounds. The Lions have a bye on the weekend of July 8.

It’s a bitter blow to Whiteley and his team, who are well set to again contest strongly in the latter stages of the Super Rugby tournament. They are the runaway leaders from South Africa, having won 12 of 13 games and have already secured a spot in the quarter-finals. The Lions will be hoping to go all the way this year after losing in the final, against the Hurricanes, last season.

Collins expects Whiteley to recover in time to lead the Boks in their first Rugby Championship match of the year, against Argentina in Port Elizabeth on August 19.

In his absence, the Lions’ captaincy duties are likely to be shared between Jaco Kriel and Ross Cronje.

Meanwhile Lions centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg is back in training after hurting his knee and undergoing an operation in mid-April. The explosive inside centre will potentially come into the selection mix after the Lions’ bye next weekend, meaning he may be available for the playoffs.

“He was out of action for quite a while so while he has been cleared to play by the medical team, he still has to be cleared by the conditioning team,” said Collins.