Stormers sweating over captain's injury
UPDATE: Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson will have a few sleepless nights over the fitness and availability of his captain Ruhan Nel.
The Stormers were forced into a late change ahead of their 49-12 win over Bristol Bears in their Champions Cup opener in Cape Town on Saturday.
Captain and centre Ruhan Nel was ruled out through injury, resulting in Wandisile Simelane starting at No.13.
Paul de Villiers took over the captaincy.
“It’s a calf injury,” Dobson said when asked about the nature of the damage.
The Stormers Director of Rugby said they will take a ‘conservative’ approach with the return-to-play of their captain.
“Hopefully it is just a week,” Dobson said, adding: “It could be three or four months as well.”
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The Stormers, despite the setback, ran in seven tries in an impressive rout of the English Premiership outfit.
Wing Leolin Zas and centre Jonny Roche both scored twice, as the Cape side outclassed their English counterparts, despite going down to 13 players at one stage.
The Stormers were reduced to 14 in the 33rd minute, when hooker JJ Kotze was shown a red card for a dangerous tackle.
A Cobus Reinach intercept try was rubbed out for a high tackle by Leolin Zas, who was shown a yellow card in the 47th minute.
Bristol made life difficult for the home side during that period, but the Stormers just had too much class in the final quarter.
Dobson revealed this past week that in-form utility Hacjivah Dayimani suffered a concussion in their 39-22 United Rugby Championship victory over the Sharks last week. He is following his return-to-play protocols.
Dayimani, Ben-Jason Dixon, Marcell Theunissen, Ruan Ackermann and Keke Morabe all sidelined.
Dobson elaborated on when the injured players are expected to return to the field of play.
Theunissen had surgery on his back, and he’ll be out for three or four months.
Dixon is suffering from delayed concussion symptoms, so there’s no clarity surrounding when he’ll be back.
Morabe is back, training again, and Ruan Ackermann should be back next week.
@JanDKrugby
