The Vodacom Bulls received a scare as they returned to training when their Springbok and vice-captain Fourie du Preez hobbled off the field with a sprained ankle in Monday’s training session. 
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Du Preez was training with his team-mates when he stepped on an uneven part of the training pitch, and immediately went down.
He was withdrawn from training and hobbled off the field, but was at least spared the pain of having to miss this weekend’s match against the Highlanders when the injury was diagnosed.
Du Preez spent the rest of the day off his feet and should be ready to train with his team-mates this week still, with caution being the watchword when it comes to the Bulls playmaker.
There was further good news for the Bulls when Pierre Spies was declared fit from the back strain that forced him to miss the Waratahs game. The Springbok No8 will be ready to take his place at the back of the scrum this weekend.
The Bulls were further boosted by news that two of their injured threesome, Springboks Akona Ndungane and Chiliboy Ralepelle, are almost over their injuries and can return to action next week. Whether they will be risked against a team like the Hurricanes is still to be seen, but it is likely they will first go through some Vodacom Cup action to ensure they are ready for the Bulls’ tour which starts a few days later.
The only bad news was that Jaco Pretorius will be out for another two weeks after his injury turned out to be worse than expected. This does at least give promising youngster Stephan Dippenaar an extended run at outside centre, which can only increase the Bulls’ depth.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Ralepelle returning to action… don’t make me laugh… be a slap in the face for Maku…
FDP has going to have to be given a rest soon though…