Western Province will have to do without injured Springbok tight forwards Andries Bekker and Tiaan Liebenberg in their semi-final against the Lions this weekend.
Bekker injured his right toe in the first half of their victory over the Cheetahs at Newlands on Saturday and will see a specialist this week, but has been ruled out of the Currie Cup semi-final in Johannesburg.
Liebenberg will also miss the match after picking up a knock to his back against the Cheetahs and will also see a specialist to determine the severity of the injury.
Meanwhile, WP coach Allister Coetzee also revealed that veteran scrumhalf Bolla Conradie had joined up at training as emergency back-up to incumbents Nic Groom and Louis Schreuder.









October 15th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
None will be missed
October 15th, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Have to agree on Bekker, he was quiet during the half he played. Tiaan played well, but Scarra looked very good when he came on.
Yes the youngster needs to sharpen his hooking skills, but he is such a good rugby player that he can be given time to get that part of his game tiptop.
October 15th, 2012 at 8:36 pm
Tiaan is a big blow. Scarra is very weak in the line-outs and WP lost 5 line-outs already in the first halve against the Bulls. Andries also the best nr 5 lock in the WP by far.
Like them or not, they will definately be missed.
October 16th, 2012 at 7:06 am
With Estsebeth, Armand, Vermeulen and Elstadt (maybe?) in the team, Province have quite a few lineout options. Something they did not have the last time they played the Bulls.
October 16th, 2012 at 8:46 am
Reply to Craven @ 7:06 am:Yes,
also true. Scarra is very good in general play, and I am sure his hooking skills will improve over time.
October 16th, 2012 at 9:00 am
How many times have Bekker been injured this year?
October 16th, 2012 at 9:18 am
WP’s going to kak in the line outs.
October 16th, 2012 at 9:32 am
Reply to biltongbek @ 9:00 am:
About the same as Goosen, Coenie, Frans, JPP and a whole other host of first-choicers… it’s a big big problem…
October 16th, 2012 at 10:02 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 9:32 am: I really think SARU needs to find a way to manage players better.
From memory a few years back Tim Noakes suggested the maximum number of games these players should be involved in per year is about 22-24.
I checked just out of interest Jannie du Plessis played 19 Super XV matches and 9 tests already this year, by the end of the year he will have played about 32 matches.
The body can’t take this type of punishment.
October 16th, 2012 at 10:04 am
Reply to biltongbek @ 10:02 am:
Yep… it’s only a matter of time for JDP… and there is no back-up of note…
October 16th, 2012 at 10:50 am
Supershit and the hype around it to perform in it is killing the game, been saying it the whole year and it is only gonna get worse.
Injuries this year:
Schalla
Bekker
Goosen
Coenie
Frans
JPP
Geo
Joe
Basson
Spies
Taute
Vermeulen
Tiaan
Bambie
Bismark
Chiliboy
…………..and that is just a few I can remember now
October 16th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
The bad news is:
It’s going to get worse – unless we
get a player’s revolt, like in 1995.
Very unlikely.
October 16th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
The biggest concern for me at the moment is Coenie Oosthuizen, I hope he doesn’t end up like Neil Fullard did.
October 16th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Reply to Boertjie @ 12:02 pm:
“The bad news is:
It’s going to get worse – unless we
get a player’s revolt, like in 1995.
Very unlikely.”
I rather expect more players to opt for more lucrative contracts playing outside of SANZAR earlier in their careers. Much like Jaque Fourie did. Play no more than 20 games a season at less intensity and get paid millions doing it.
October 16th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Reply to Craven @ 12:55 pm: