Injury news: Mixed bag for Stormers
No Duane Vermeulen or Schalk Burger, but Eben Etzebeth will return.
This is the mixed bag of news Stormers coach Allister Coetzee received on Monday, just under a fortnight away from his team's appearance in the Super Rugby semifinals.
While the Stormers will have to wait till this coming Saturday to find out who their opponents will be on July 28, they know that at least one of their injured stars will be back.
The Bok lock, Etzebeth, who has been battling with a sprained ankle sustained in the June Tests against England, was cleared on Monday to resume training this week.
Utility back Gio Aplon, who was sent to lala-land for a few minutes after copping a nasty blow to the head from teammate Rynhardt Elstadt in the encounter with the Rebels at the weekend, was also cleared – as was star loose forward Siya Kolisi.
However, despite the coach putting a positive spin on the situation surrounding Vermeulen and Burger, they remain unlikely to feature in the semifinals.
"Duane Vermeulen and Schalk Burger are both also progressing really well, but both still remain doubtful starters for the semifinal," Coetzee said.
"Both will undergo final assessments on Thursday as to their availability to participate in team training next week and as to their potential availability for the play-off," the coach added.
"We are in pretty good shape, injury wise, for this stage of the competition.
"It has been a gruelling couple of months."
The players have the luxury of three days downtime, before regrouping on Thursday for training and preparation.
