Kriel blow for Boks
DEVASTATING: BOK FLANKER SIDELINED FOR SIX MONTHS
His tremendous tackling will be sorely missed.
In a big blow to both the national team and his Super Rugby franchise, Springbok flanker Jaco Kriel has been ruled out of action for the rest of the season. Kriel sustained a severe shoulder injury in the Rugby Championship Test against Australia in Perth on September 9 and consequently missed the All Blacks Test last weekend after he had returned home.
As a result he underwent an operation yesterday and is only expected to return to action in six months.
That will rule him out of the start of the Lions’ Super Rugby campaign next season as he is only expected to return by midMarch next year.
For Bok coach Allister Coetzee it compounded his headaches as Bok skipper Warren Whiteley is also still on the sidelines with a groin injury he sustained in the second French Test in June.
Initially it was hoped that Whiteley would have returned by the time the Boks started their home leg of the Rugby Championship, but now it appears as though Whiteley could only return for the end-of-the-year tour to the United Kingdom.
Kriel was badly missed last weekend as before the Albany massacre he had been named as the player who made the most tackles in the Championship with 39 to his name.
The backrow combination of Siya Kolisi, Jean-Luc du Preez and Uzair Cassiem was exposed against the All Blacks, but the recall of veteran Bok flank Francois Louw from Bath could help to alleviate the problem.
The Boks will get together in Bloemfontein on Sunday in preparation for the Wallaby Test in the City of Roses next weekend.
The Lions also reported yesterday that lock Lourens Erasmus will undergo an operation on his left knee and will be out of action for approximately three months.
Erasmus has been sent back to South Africa after getting injured while in action in Japan.