Bulls star set for scan after foot injury
REACTION: One of the Bulls’ stalwarts has emerged as an injury concern ahead of the United Rugby Championship playoffs after the Bulls secured a home quarterfinal with their emphatic 45-19 victory over Benetton at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Bulls coach Johan Ackermann revealed after the match that utility back Devon Williams picked up a foot injury during warm-up before the game and will undergo scans on Monday to determine the extent of the damage.
The winger left the field in the 53rd minute and was replaced by Stedman Gans.
“Someone stepped on his foot in training,” Ackermann explained after the game.
“He got through the minutes he played, but we will have a scan on Monday.
“He is sore now, but in the assessment before the game, everyone, including Devon, felt he could play, so that’s why we didn’t make a change.
“We have to scan on Monday to make sure that it isn’t damaged.”
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Besides Williams, three other players picked up small niggles, but according to Ackermann, he expected most players would recover during the two-week break before the quarterfinals.
“We are a little bit concerned about Cameron [Hanekom]. Ruan [Nortjé] has a little ankle twist, and Canan [Moodie] took a knock to the shoulder, but hopefully with the week off they’ll be fine.”
The Bulls managed to bag a haul of five points from the encounter that boosted them into fourth in the standings ahead of the clash between Munster and the Lions.
However, he felt there were still areas that needed close attention to get his charges properly playoff-ready.
He referred to the small errors in the game, such as players knocking the ball or throwing wild passes, while he also questioned some of their decision-making.
“It’s just our general skill, finishing, and general decision-making that we have to focus on.
“The boys will have some time off now to refresh, also because the Springbok alignment camps are coming up, so we won’t have the whole group that can train.
“And obviously we don’t know who we will play [at the moment], so once we know, we will put the plans in place,” the coach explained.
Image by Suresh Rajcoomar
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