Played two Currie Cup matches, lost two Currie Cup matches. And a truckload of injuries picked up along the way.
That’s the current situation Western Province find themselves in.
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However, in some good news, WP have confirmed that wing Seabelo Senatla will not have to undergo surgery on his knee.
Immediately following Saturday’s latest loss to the Lions in Johannesburg, WP coach John Dobson said his team had been ‘massacred injury-wise’ in their 22-19 defeat at Ellis Park.
Dobson reported in the post-match media conference that hookers Bongi Mbonambi and Scarra Ntubeni had picked up knocks, while tighthead prop Neethling Fouche, lock Salamaan Moerat and No 8 Juarno Augustus were all concussed.
He also confirmed that Senatla had suffered a medial collateral ligament injury.
SOME POSITIVE NEWS
However, Monday’s injury report brought some positive news as it was confirmed that only Fouche and Senatla would likely miss Friday’s clash with the Pumas at Newlands.
WP skills coach Labeeb Levy said that it was only Fouche who had picked up a bad concussion.
‘There’s only one guy with a concussion which was Neethling Fouche,’ Levy said.
‘He took a head knock and struggled to get up. We’re still evaluating the others that had niggles, bumps and bruises … and waiting on the medical team to write their final reports.
‘Salmaan went off with a knock and went for the concussion test which he passed. He could actually have come back on, but at that stage of the game the coaches felt they wanted to give the replacements a run at that point in time.’
Levy confirmed that Senatla had suffered a knee ligament injury which will definitely keep him out of this weekend’s game, but added that the injury was not severe enough to see him go for an operation.
‘The only other injury concern is Seabelo Senatla, who is out with an MCL injury. We’re still waiting for the final results of the scan but it’s (likely) a grade one or two (tear). I don’t think it’s a clean break, and we’re pretty confident that he won’t need an operation. I had a chat to him and he said it wasn’t too painful.’
In terms of replacing Senatla in the starting line-up, Levy said that Sergeal Petersen had been training over last week and also mentioned Leolin Zas, Sihle Njezula and Tristan Leyds.
Prior to their loss to the Lions, WP went down 22-20 against a 14-man Bulls side at Newlands.
Victory over the Pumas in Round 3 is thus non-negotiable.
WP are currently in third place in the standings, a point ahead of the Lions and four ahead of the Cheetahs as teams scrap for top-4 semi-final spots.
The match at Newlands kicks off at 19:00.
