Cape Town - The Stormers have received a massive blow with the news that flyhalf Damian Willemse has been ruled out for four to six weeks with a knee injury.
Willemse suffered a knee injury in South Africa's World Rugby U20 Championship match against Ireland in France on Sunday.
While the injury is obviously a major stumbling block for the Junior Boks at the tournament, it will also impact heavily on the Stormers when Super Rugby gets underway again on June 30.
The Stormers have three matches left this season and must win them all if they are to stand any chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
"It is never good when players suffer injuries," said Junior Springbok coach Chean Roux.
"In Damian’s case particularly, if we really had to, we could probably have strapped him and played him in one of the playoff games.
"But if one looks at the bigger picture, it is better for him as a player and for South African rugby that he takes a break and does proper recovery so that he can be 100% ready to play again.
"He has had a very high workload this year at a high intensity, and although his injury is a big loss, it is better that he recovers properly so that he can return to action soon."
