Pollard’s shoulder injury gives Bulls the blues
THE Bulls could find themselves in a crisis at flyhalf after it was revealed that Springbok flyhalf and Bulls vice-captain Handré Pollard could miss part of the upcoming Super Rugby season because of a shoulder injury.
The 21-year-old has been nursing the injury since last year but could not take any time off for rehabilitation because of his national team duties during the Rugby Championship and Rugby World Cup.
Bulls coach Nollis Marais remains hopeful that they will receive a positive report from the specialist which will only rule Pollard out of action for two weeks after the young flyhalf played in Japan during the off-season.
However, there is serious concern over the player’s availability for a con- gested Super Rugby campaign if the specialist recommends he undergoes an operation hat could rule the mercurial flyhalf out of action for at least the opening rounds of the competition.
“Handré is a bit of a concern at the moment but we will have a discussion with his specialist this week to determine what the best route forward for his conditioning is – if it is two weeks or longer. Luckily I brought in Francois Brummer at the end of last year because I knew if something like this happens we would have a problem with depth at flyhalf,” Marais said.
The Bulls reserves at flyhalf will be pushed to the limit with Pollard out as Tian Meyer is only recovering from injury now while Josh Stander has hardly played senior rugby at domestic level leaving Brummer as the only flyhalf with Super Rugby experience.
At the same time Marais is also concerned about the knee ligament to highly rated utility back Duncan Matthews who suffered a freak injury in training on Monday while doing a warm-up exercise.
The energetic Matthews sat out most of last year after sustaining knee ligament damage in the Bulls Super Rugby warm-up match against the Cheetahs in Polokwane and would have certainly been cover for Warrick Gelant at fullback for the Bulls this year.
Marais suspects that Matthews will be out for up to two months.
“That is not a good thing for us because I was banking on him having a good start to the season. Last year he was in our Currie Cup plans but he came back in the last two games of the season so there was no real chance to give him an opportunity to play. I rate him highly and I wanted him to be injury free, play some friendlies and see how he does,” Marais said.
While the Bulls wait for the verdict on Pollard and Matthews, Marais is feeling upbeat by the imminent return of Springboks Jesse Kriel and Bjorn Basson along with lock Grant Hattingh from Japan to beef up their stock.
Kriel is expected to continue with his prolific form at centre which he showcased with aplomb at international level after featuring at fullback for the Bulls while Basson will in all likelihood be cover at wing for Travis Ismaiel and Jamba Ulengo with Hattingh adding much needed experience in the Bulls second row.
Marais also expressed his disappointment at the loss of Springbok centre JJ Engelbrecht who has joined Welsh Pro12 club Ospreys saying that Engelbrecht’s experience would have been beneficial to the talented but inexperienced Bulls midfield.