Botha blow for Bulls
by Brenden Nel 27 August 2012, 16:04
Former SA under-20 captain Arno Botha will miss the Vodacom Blue Bulls’ showdown with DHL Western Province at Newlands on Saturday, after the flanker suffered a second hamstring injury in three weeks.
Botha missed the trip to Bloemfontein two Saturdays ago after tweaking his hamstring against Griquas, and after a solid second-half performance after coming off the bench, seems to have done himself in with the same injury flaring up once again.
It is a pity because the Bulls loose forward made quite an impact on Saturday, linking up well with CJ Stander for a try and putting in an all-round good performance.
Botha is likely to be out for the week, but should return next week, and seems to be the only casualty in the Bulls' arsenal at the moment.
Monday’s normal niggles did however keep Johann Sadie (quad), Francois Venter (sternum), Akona Ndungane (quad) and Dewald Potgieter (quad) out of action. All four are expected to resume training on Tuesday.
Jan Serfontein and Frik Kirsten, who had to withdraw from the bench due to flu, have recovered and can be considered for selection.
According to Strauss, hooker Bongi Mbonambi should be back next week and Bok winger Bjorn Basson in two weeks’ time.
Chiliboy Ralepelle (six weeks) and Pierre Spies (ten weeks) are long term casualties.
