Bulls Superman Pierre Spies may have picked up a serious knee injury in the Bulls win over the Brumbies on Saturday.
Midway through the second half, Spies was tackled and looked to have wrenched his knee badly. He lay on the ground in agony, and my initial thoughts were “this is serious.”
However the big man got up and although ginger for a few minutes, he managed to play on. Eventually Spies was substituted once the result of the match was a foregone conclusion.
Knee ligament injuries can often go undetected. Judging by the pain Spies felt initially he must’ve torn something to register that acute pain, I just hope it’s not a cruciate ligament which provides the majority of the knee’s stability and if torn will most likely need surgical repair (and a lengthy rehabilitation period).
The only way to confirm the diagnosis is from scans. Generally a MRI scan. Bulls team doctor Org Strauss confirmed Spies will have the knee scanned on monday and said “I’ve seen injuries like this before that have looked fairly innocuous but have turned out to be serious, so we’ll wait and see.”
I hope Spies is okay, otherwise he may need to don his cape and fly instead of run! I’m sure all Bulls fans will be holding thumbs for him!
The good news for the Bulls is that Dewald Potgieter is making excellent progress after his medial ligament strain to his knee and should be available for selection this week.He will resume training on Monday, and is the unfortunate happens and Spies is ruled out (or even rested if needed), the Bulls have a fantastic replacement.
“We’ll see how he responds in training but his rehabilitation has gone very well and we’re confident he’ll be ready for the Waratahs” said Dr Strauss.
Meanwhile the injuries to lock Danie Rousouw and centre Jaco Pretorius may need another week, but the Bulls have depth in those positions. However the citing to Victor Matfield could potentially throw a spanner in the works.
The Bulls will also gain Springboks Bakkies Botha, Chiliboy Ralepelle and Akona Ndungane over the next 4-5 weeks too as they recover from longer-term injuries.
