Goosen's season over?
by Brenden Nel 08 October 2012, 19:28
Springbok flyhalf Johan Goosen’s season is over after the pivot tore knee ligaments on Saturday during the Castle Rugby Championship test between the Springboks and All Blacks at FNB Stadium.
Goosen will see two more specialists on Tuesday morning for a second opinion, after the first two doctors who examined him differed on whether or not he needed to undergo surgery immediately.
If he is operated on, then he will be out of action for close on six months, while if it is decided he doesn’t need an operation, the young flyhalf will still be out for six weeks and is therefore unlikely to play any part in the Springbok tour in November.
Goosen, who burst onto the scene last year and was a sensation in Super Rugby for the Cheetahs this year, already missed four months of the season with a shoulder injury, and pertinent questions must be asked as it is his second big injury in a short space of time.
But the injury, which was sustained during the match on Saturday, had nothing to do with the earlier heel bruise that stopped him from kicking at Loftus Versfeld the previous week.
Free State team doctor Ian Morris told supersport.com that Goosen would be “very lucky” to play any rugby again this year.
“He’s done his medial collateral ligaments and we picked that up on the MRI scan, but the lucky thing is that none of the other ligaments have been damaged. We’ve decided to get a few more specialists to give an opinion before we decide if we need to operate or not,” Dr Morris said.
“Regardless of whatever course of action is decided, I feel he would be very lucky to make the end-of-year tour. I could be wrong but with these types of injuries, it is never a good idea to rush a player.”
Morris said while he had not seen the incident where Goosen was injured, the player told him it came in an unfortunate clash of bodies during the game.
“He said it was when a player’s body fell onto the front part of the knee during the close clashes in the game.”
Morris said if it was decided to operate, then Goosen would undergo the op “within a day or two” in Bloemfontein so that the recovery process can begin almost immediately.
The injury news will be a massive blow to the Boks, as coach Heyneke Meyer has indicated he wanted to give both Goosen and Elton Jantjies game-time to settle into the Bok number 10 role while the team was touring in the Northern Hemisphere.
