Bulls sweat over Bok speedster after Lions demolition
REACTION: The Bulls’ impressive 57-15 victory over the Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday might have come at a cost.
Winger Canan Moodie was forced off the field early in the second half and underwent a head injury assessment (HIA).
Moodie, who was one of 10 Springbok players who featured in Johan Ackermann’s matchday squad, had an impressive showing before his departure.
The Bok star scored one of his team’s tries in the second half, competed brilliantly in the air and had several line breaks to mark his return for the Bulls.
He was replaced by youngster Cheswill Jooste, who also got on the scoreboard later in the game.
Bulls coach, Johan Ackermann, shed light on Moodie’s knock after the game.
“It looks like he is okay,” he said.
“At this stage, he unfortunately has to follow protocol regarding the HIA and see if he’s back.
“That process starts on Monday, so hopefully he’s got no symptoms, and he can be available. If he’s not, we will follow the protocols, and time will tell.”
Apart from Moodie’s knock, Ackermann’s side suffered no other injuries on the day.
The coach also provided an update on several players who missed out on the Lions match after picking up knocks against Munster last week.
“Stravino [Jacobs] will be back [next week]; he recovered from his injury, but he got sick yesterday, so that forced him out of selection.
“Marcell [Coetzee] got injured; he will have to go through testing on Monday to see if he has recovered. It looked well yesterday from a rehab point of view.
“They were happy that his knee settled, but he still couldn’t run. It was a precaution to keep him out of the running, but he got sick as well last night, so he wouldn’t have been able to play anyway.
“Embrose [Papier] will be back next week, Akker van der Merwe is still out.
“Reinhardt Ludwig got sick; he would’ve played today, but hopefully he will be fine on Monday.”
The Bulls coach welcomes the prospect of several players returning ahead of the Investec Champions Cup, although he admits it will present some tricky selection decisions.
“It’s tough on selection at the moment because apart from one or two guys we’ve got a full squad. It doesn’t make it easy, but I’d rather be in that position than the other way around.”
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