VIDEO: Bok duo ruled out of Bulls' quarterfinal against Edinburgh
SPOTLIGHT: Despite having a couple of nig names absent, Director of Rugby Jake White says the Bulls are not in a ‘bad place’ in terms of player stocks heading into the United Rugby Championship play-offs.
The Bulls will host Sean Everitt’s Edinburgh in a quarterfinal showdown at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Ahead of the fixture, White provided updates on a couple of Springboks in the form of flyhalf Johan Goosen and prop Gerhard Steenekamp.
Earlier this month, Goosen limped off with a knee injury in his side’s victory over Cardiff, and it was feared that his career could be over due to his history with those injuries.
However, a few days later, White caught everyone by surprise when he revealed that Goosen might be “back before the end of the season” after he underwent a medical procedure.
Speaking to reporters at a training session this week, White confirmed that Goosen will not be available for selection for the Edinburgh clash.
However, the door could be open for his return should the Bulls extend their play-off journey.
Meanwhile, Steenekamp (knee) returned to training a few weeks ago, but he is still not ready for action.
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“What I can tell you is that we are not in a bad place,” said White.
“Guys like Elrigh [Louw], Gerhard Steenekamp and Johan Goosen are not available, but other than that, we are in a good place.
“For this time of year and the amount of rugby we have played, we are not badly off.
“With Goosen, people thought it was career-ending, and here you can see him sitting behind me.
“He is now starting to run and all those sorts of things.
“We just have to keep ourselves alive until the end of the competition, and hopefully we will have most of our guys, other than those long-term injuries, back.”
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The Bulls suffered a 28-34 defeat to Edinburgh in Scotland last month in a Challenge Cup quarterfinal and it will serve as extra motivation.
“They beat us a couple of weeks ago, so there is not much that I need to say,” said White.
“The players understand that we play the Sharks or Munster [in the semifinals] next week if we win, and those are two teams [Edinburgh and Sharks] that beat us this year.
“So, there is not much I need to say to get them ready.
“It will be a bit of déjà vu on the basis that we have been here and done it before, but we’ve got the opportunity to play our best rugby in the last three weeks.”
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