VIDEO: Boks' World Cup winner under the knife
INJURY UPDATE: The Bulls revealed World Cup winner Canan Moodie is in a race against time to be fit for South Africa’s mid-year internationals.
Director of Rugby Jake White said the 21-year-old flyer is undergoing surgery on Friday.
It was confirmed on Friday that Moodie will miss the Bulls’ United Rugby Championship quarterfinal face-off against Benetton at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
It was played down as a ‘minor’ injury and some ‘bumps and bruises’.
However, on Friday White revealed that it is more serious and requires surgery.
He fractured his index finger in the 26-14 win over the Sharks in Durban last week.
The incident happened early in the second half, when flank Vincent Tshituka was yellow-carded for an illegal tackle.
“Once they open up the finger, we will see how serious it is,” White said, adding: “Hopefully it is one of those that you can strap in two or three weeks and he plays.
“For the Boks I hope it is not too serious.
“You want to have him available for the [two-Test] series against Ireland [in July].”
(Article continues below the Jake White interview …)
* Another World Cup winner who will miss the encounter in the quarterfinal is flank Marco van Staden.
He also left the field early in the second half. Still, White said Van Staden is being ‘rested’ as a precautionary measure – as they manage the Medial Collateral Ligament injury that ruled him out earlier in the season.
“Marco would have been able to play tomorrow [against Benetton on Saturday] if it was the last game of the season,” the Bulls’ boss said.
“To be fair to him, he is also in the Springbok mix and I don’t want to risk aggravating the injury and Van Staden breaks down and is ruled out of the internationals.”
The flank returned to the playing field after he sustained a Medial Collateral Ligament injury in the humbling 14-47 loss to Leinster in the URC.
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