Bulls looking thin in the front row
The Bulls are looking rather thin when it comes to front row resources, as they head into their Super Rugby season-opener against the Stormers in Pretoria on Saturday.
They will be without the services of Springbok props Dean Greyling and Marcel van der Merwe.
Greyling, who suffered an ankle sprain in the first pre-season match against the Cheetahs last month, is another two weeks away from returning to the playing field.
Van der Merwe, who injured his knee and pulled his hamstring in the encounter with Saracens in London late last month, is still three weeks from being available.
Another Bok, hooker Bandise Maku (pectoral muscle) will be sidelined for at least another four months.
Prop Hencus van Wyk (foot) will also only return to training at the end of the month.
The good news is that Bok prop Trevor Nyakane, imported from the Cheetahs in the off season, has recovered sufficiently from the contusion he suffered and will be considered for selection.
Bok hooker Adriaan Strauss, another off-season recruit from the Cheetahs, also starts training this week and while he may be a little ring rusty after a calf injury limited his pre-season work, he will be invaluable to the Bulls' cause.
Other injury news include World Cup-winning wing Akona Ndungane, who is also not available for the opening weekend of the Super Rugby.
He is making good progress after suffering a calf strain, but is at least another week away from full fitness.
To complicate matters a bit more for Bulls coach Frans Ludeke, wing Travis Ismaiel has been ruled out for selection due to a hamstring strain.
All of Basil Short (pectoral), Jason Jenkins (quad), Trevor Nyakane (contusion), Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (hamstring), Deon Stegmann (hip) and Jesse Kriel (neck) completed a full training session on Monday.
Flip van der Merwe (pectoral, mid-April), Bandise Maku (pectoral, four to six months) and Pierre Schoeman (ACL, 15 July) remain on the long-term injury list.
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