The Force were probably using the power of the dark side when Fourie du Preez sprained his ankle for the second time at training.
It is the second time in recent weeks that the Bulls and Springbok scrumhalf has sprained his ankle whilst training at Loftus Versfeld. Unfortunately, this was also the last practie session before the Bulls embark to Perth, to face the Force.
With only one back-up scrumhalf in Francois Hougaard, Bulls coach Frans Ludeke will be hoping his champion scrumhalf can recover in time to face the Force.
Obviously the injury is not too serious, probably just a grade 1 tear, but it is the inability to control recovery conditions that will worry the Bulls medical staff most.
The Bulls are about to embark on a long plane journey to Perth. The cabin pressure is not conducive to alleviating swelling, but I am sure du Preez will have plenty of ice on his ankle to aid his recovery for Saturday night’s game.
If du Preez is ruled out, Ludeke faces a potential problem in that reserve reserve scrumhalf Heini Adams is still at least a week away in recovering from a cracked rib. Ruan Snyman is most likely the next in line, but a decision will only be made once the Bulls have arrived in Perth.
Just before departure Bulls coach Frans Ludeke had this to say, “There is luckily a bit of time on our side, and we are flying tonight, so tomorrow will be a better time to gauge the seriousness of the injury, and we will make a decision then.”
“Luckily we are very positive about the injury and Fourie is a very positive person, so we’re confident he will be ready” said Ludeke.
“Our preparation was very good up to now and we can get on that flight confident of doing well in Perth. We’re excited to go on tour and it is the shortest tour that we’ve been on, so that’s great as well” added Ludeke.
I am sure du Preez will take the field on Saturday, but it is a concern that he has resprained the ankle indicating there is a weakness there (and potentially is is more serious than initially thought). South African rugby needs a fit du Preez who only has 2 seasons in South Africa left before leaving for Japan.
