Brenden Nel - SuperSport.com
Pretoria - The Bulls and Springboks were hit by a massive double blow on the injury front as it was revealed that both giant lock Lood de Jager and prop Lizo Gqoboka won’t be playing any rugby for the foreseeable future after massive injuries in their Super Rugby win over the weekend against the Sharks.
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Gqoboka injured a tendon in his toe, and will miss at least than four months of action, while the 2015 SA Rugby Player of the year De Jager, who has been in scintillating form this year, has a chest injury that will keep him on the sidelines for four months at well.
That means both players, who were expected to form part of Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ plans in the three test series against England in June, will be on the sidelines and will only make a return in the Currie Cup – also deep into this year’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
“Lizo Gqoboka unfortunately left the field with an injured big toe. Scans today revealed he injured a tendon and he will require surgery for that, so he will consult with the specialist today and will be on the sideline for at least four to six months,” Bulls team doctor Herman Rossouw said.
“Lood de Jager left the field in the 70th minute with an injury to his chest wall. Scans revealed he has a complete tear of that muscle. He is also consulting with a specialist and he will also be out for at least four months.”
Erasmus already has several challenges after losing Malcolm Marx to injury just a few weeks ago, and the weekend news that Pat Lambie also is out will also affect the deeper squad depth ahead of the England test.
The Bulls already have lost Pierre Schoeman to a six week ban for biting, and now are looking for a new loosehead ahead of their trip to Buenos Aires this weekend while Jason Jenkins is expected to fill in the void in De Jager’s absence with Ruben van Heerden likely to cover off the bench.
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