Springboks and Bulls suffer huge Cameron Hanekom blow
Bulls loose forward Cameron Hanekom returns to the side of the field on crutches after going off with a hamstring injury during their URC semifinal win over the Sharks at Loftus on Saturday night. Picture: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
The Springboks and Bulls suffered a huge Cameron Hanekom blow when he limped off with a serious looking injury during his side's 25-13 United Rugby Championship (URC) semifinal win over the Sharks at Loftus on Saturday night.
Hanekom, who has enjoyed another fantastic season, and was recently named the URC's Next-Gen Player of the Season in recognition of his scintillating form, will now miss the URC final and likely a chunk of the coming international season, where he was expected to feature for the Boks.
He picked up a hamstring injury in the second half of the match, after a clean out at the ruck, and after being carted off on the medic golf cart, he returned to the side of the field near the end of the game on crutches.
'He's just having a sonar (scan) now. Obviously he's very upset, that's natural. But I said to his parents now that we forget he's just 21,' said Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White during the post match press conference.
'When I started coaching, 21 year old forwards weren't invited to Northern Transvaal training. And if they were it was really to be cannon fodder for the old men to bash them on a Monday night (in training).
'So he's obviously jumped the queue because he's so talented, and he feels a bit down now. But we mustn't forget he's just 21 years old, and there's still a lot of rugby that he's going to be involved in over the next few years.'
Extent unknown
Although it is too early to know the extent of the injury, White said that he will definitely be out of the URC final against Leinster in Dublin this coming weekend, but admitted to being hopeful that the injury would not be as serious as it looked when he was taken off the field in obvious discomfort.
'When it is swollen and there's blood (in the injury), you can't really see (how bad it is). They had a look and he won't play next week, that I can tell you.
'He thinks he can. He said he might go to the same doctor (Johan) Goosen went to (after a recent knee injury that also looked very serious),' joked White.
'But I can't see it. He can't travel with that injury. I'm hoping for his sake it's like Goosen, a short-term rather than a long-term injury.'
With the Springbok season kicking off at the end of this month with a match against the Barbarians in Cape Town, followed by the Incoming Series against Italy and Georgia in July, unless he is very lucky, Hanekom will probably be ruled out of those four games.
We will now have to wait and see whether he will recover in time for the Rugby Championship, kicking off in August, or if he will be ruled out for a number of months, which we will learn once he is properly assessed.
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