The Vodacom Bulls Director of Rugby, Jake White confirmed that they are at risk losing a third member of their Springbok back-three following their 25-20 United Rugby Championship semi-final win over Leinster.
Fullback Willie le Roux was replaced after 55 minutes of play when he suffered a neck injury and failed a Head Injury Assessment, and according to White Le Roux also sustained a neck injury.
“It is not just an HIA, he got a knock on his neck and we will have to also assess that from an injury point of view. It is obviously not great because we have Kurt-Lee and Canan already out and it just means if you play for the Springboks, you won’t play for the Bulls it seems."
White said le Roux was outstanding and that people often underestimate his value.
“He was outstanding, to be fair. People underestimate his value, just from the way he talks on the field and those kicks during the game. But you know, let’s see. I didn’t think with the back three that we had, we would be as good as we were today and we surprised everybody."
“An opportunity will come next week for someone else, we will put someone in his place if he is not available.”
White was adamant that he will not take a risk with an HIA and will wait and see if le Roux recovers from the neck injury and passes his HIA protocol during the coming week. However, he said he is not banking on le Roux being cleared in time.
White said he would not take chances with Le Roux’s health, especially with a full international season ahead of him.
“You don’t want to play head games with an HIA, I’ve got kids. I don’t want to push a guy in that situation. But who knows? Maybe tomorrow it is the neck that is more sore, and if that heals, maybe the HIA protocols mean he will be fine. But I’m not banking on that.”
