Nothing to blame for Stormers' pains

 

With five high profile injuries coming out of the Stormers' single point victory over the Highlanders, the Cape side are once again licking their wounds.

 

Players such a Steven Kitshoff and Jean de Villiers, who have been regular faces in the starting line up, are among the wounded.

 

Others who are out of this weekends clash against the Bulls include Louis Schreuder, Kobus van Wyk and potentially Frans Malherbe and Michael Rhodes.

 

However, Coach Coetzee says that you cannot blame internal factors on these injuries.

 

By looking at the types of problems he says it is clear that they are 'freakish accidents'.

 

"You can't say it is because these guys are suffering from malnutrition [or the likes], it's freakish accidents," said the Stormers boss.

 

"It's not soft tissue things which you can attach or relate to conditioning."

 

Indeed, Schreuder (thumb), Van Wyk (wrist), Kitshoff (Knee),Van Vuuren (shoulder), Malherbe (concussion) and De Villiers (shoulder) would all attest to this.

 

"Louis [Schreuder] has had nothing [injury-wise] now it is a broken thumb," Coetzee added.

 

"If you fracture a thumb, what do you put it down to? I mean it is a fracture.

 

"Van Vuuren's shoulder, another knock to the shoulder, its a subluxation, it just comes out like that and it pops out easily.

 

"You don't want to put him at risk, you have got to have it done.

 

"Fran's [Malherbe] concussion – last week he took a knock to the head against the Cheetahs and this week a cut above the lip,

 

"He is subject to passing his test.

 

"Kitshoff got tackled against the touch line on the field and that is his knee gone."

 

Regardless of what the coach puts the injuries down to he still has to deal with these problems by amending his team accordingly.

 

The issue for Coetzee is that injuries have not only rocked the Stormers, but the Vodacom Cup team, where he may have gone scouting, as well.

 

When asked about his shuffling his back line with the likes of promising youngsters Devon Williams and Michael van de Spuy, Coetzee had more bad news.

 

"Devon is in the mix and in the squad, but he also took a knock, so he is not 100 percent," Coetzee said.

 

"Michael van der Spuy, I can't take him, he is out with a broken nose that will be repaired Wednesday.

 

"Like you say again, it's the type of injuries, Michael has a broken nose, Devon has a knock to the hip – they are bumps.

 

"Johnny Kotze has a knock to the knee as well, Gary van Aswegen has a groin strain, he is out for more than three weeks. Pat Howard is nursing a ham string, he has been out for most of the season.

 

"Huw Jones and Robert du Preez have been invited to training."

 

The Stormers take on the Bulls at Loftus this weekend, both of these teams are coming off victories and both of them are in desperate need of some winning momentum.