Blue Bulls suffer injury blow to Kirsten

29 August 2016 - 20:00 By Chumani Bambani

In addition to their 19-26 defeat to the Sharks at the weekend‚ the Blue Bulls have been dealt a further blow following the loss of flanker Jannes Kirsten. Bulls team doctor Herman Rossouw confirmed on Monday that Kirsten will be out of action for at least two weeks after sustaining a shoulder injury on Saturday.“After our match against the Sharks we have only one new injury‚” Rossouw confirmed.“Jannes Kirsten sustained an injury to his AC joint and will be out for two week‚ maybe three‚ depending on his [recovery] progress.”The injury will be a blow for the Bulls as Kirsten has been one of the side’s most consistent performers since their Super Rugby campaign.This also comes ahead of one of the Pretoria side’s most crucial games so far as they prepare to take on arch-rivals‚ the Golden Lions‚ at home at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.Reflecting on the weekend’s defeat to the Sharks‚ which saw the Bulls slide down a spot on the Currie Cup log from third to fourth‚ coach Nollis Marais was left mildly satisfied with his side’s progress after four matches.“I thought it was a good game until the 80th minute‚” the Bulls coach said.“We did not play too badly. We gave away too many turnovers in the end.“At the end of the day the Sharks used their opportunities quite well‚ that is why they remain an unbeaten side. We should have been better. I said to the guys even before the game that ‘this is where the Currie Cup starts’ because we were playing a side that had collected 15 out of 15 points. They are a good and experienced side.”The Bulls showed an improvement from the defensive loopholes Marais was concerned about going into the match.Having had an opportunity to close the game‚ or at least claim a stalemate with an opportunity to level the scores towards the end of the game‚ the Bulls were exposed for their lack of experience.Marais lamented the shortfalls brought on by a lack of experienced players in his side.“Our challenge this year has been that we lost 12 players from the Super Rugby side‚ so half of our squad was new again‚” he said.“We still have a few guys out injured still‚ but there is a lot of talent coming through.”Marais will name the team to take on the Lions in their fifth match of the domestic competition on Tuesday...

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