Lood de Jager of the Bulls is likely to miss most of the Super Rugby season. BackpagePix Lood de Jager of the Bulls is likely to miss most of the Super Rugby season. BackpagePix
The euphoria of the Bulls’ away victory over the Lions was extinguished yesterday with the news that captain and physical presence Lood de Jager would effectively miss the rest of the Super Rugby season.
De Jager has had some rotten luck on the injury front since he joined the Bulls two years ago sitting out a large portion of the 2018 Super Rugby campaign after suffering a pectoral muscle injury in May last year.
He hurt his shoulder in the Bulls’ loss to the Jaguares in Buenos Aires and was initially expected to miss two to three weeks of rugby.
But Bulls team doctor Herman Rossouw, confirmed the bad news late on Monday afternoon after De Jager sought a second opinion.
“Lood de Jager, who injured his shoulder a week ago against the Jaguares consulted another specialist in Cape Town and the decision was made that he would undergo surgery tomorrow (Tuesday),” Rossouw said.
“It means he will be on the side-line for at least four months which means he will only return at the end of Super Rugby.”
He will effectively miss the rest of the Super Rugby while he will be in a race against time to be fit for the Rugby Championship at the end of July.
Even if he is fully fit it would be touch and go as he will be looking to get some game to instill some confidence that he will be at his best for the Boks.
His return is expected mere months before the start of the Rugby World Cup in September which would weigh heavy on Bok coach Rassie Erasmus’ mind when selecting his final group for the global showpiece.
De Jager recovered well from his pectoral muscle injury at the end of the 2018 season where he featured for the Springboks off the bench in the November internationals against the England and Scotland.
Although he was a bit rusty during those exchanges, he was in fine form during the Super Rugby warm-up matches and in the Bulls’ opener against the Stormers in Pretoria.
De Jager’s injury is a massive blow to a Bulls side looking to build on the positive momentum from their victory over the Lions over the weekend.
The Bulls’ lock stocks are running low with RG Snyman only expected to make his return to the field in three weeks’ time.
The Bok lock’s replacement Eli Snyman slotted in nicely in his place where he packed down next to Jason Jenkins in the second row.
The duo was in fine form in the Jukskei derby with Snyman taking over the lineout calls from De Jager.
Bulls coach Pote Human will be crossing his fingers for an injury-free weekend when his charges take on a physical Sharks pack in Pretoria on Saturday, after which they will have their first bye of the campaign.