It’s been a dramatic weekend in Super Rugby with a number of players being cited, banned, injured and more.

Where does one start…

Ma’a Nonu of the Highlanders has been banned for 3 weeks for a Red Card tackle on Crusaders Tom Marshall, and is therefore out of the rest of Super Rugby in 2013. Jarrad Hoeata also of the Highlanders received a 1-week ban following 3 Yellow Cards.

Stormers and Springbok loose forward, Siya Koilisi is out injured for 6 weeks with torn ankle ligaments. Louis Fouché of the Bulls has injured knee ligaments requiring surgery and will be out for 6 months. The Blues have received a double hit with Chris Noakes and Piri Weepu out injured.

At the Cheetahs, Coenie Oosthuizen and Elgar Watts were casualties from the disasterous Cheetahs game against the Stormers and the Cheetahs will be sweating this week on their readyness to face the Blues on the coming weekend.

Meanwhile it is reported that the Stormers heavy guns who missed out on the past weekend’s game, Jean de Villiers, Rynhardt Elstadt and PatCilliers will be ready and available on the weekend for the Stormers.

Ma’a Nonu:

All Blacks and Highlanders centre Ma’a Nonu will miss the rest of the Super Rugby season after he was given a three week ban following a red card for a tackle on Tom Marshall.

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Nonu’s ban will run for a period of three (3) weeks from 29 June 2013 up to and including 21 July 2013 which effectively rules him out of Super Rugby for the rest of the season.

The Highlanders are out of the running for the play offs and their final regular season match is on July the 2th against the Melbourne Rebels.

The 31-year-old Highlanders  centre came on as a second half replacement but was shown a red card in the 58th minute after he tip tackled Crusaders back Tom Marshall in Dunedin.

SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Jannie Lubbe SC assessed the case and said that Nonu accepted the tackle was poorly executed, and his guilty plea and remorse led to the standard ban period being reduced by one week.

“The tackle was executed poorly and there was no intention to hurt the opponent. In the dynamic situation that existed during the tackle there was no opportunity to bring the tackled player safely to the ground.

“Nonu accepted that the tackle was poorly executed by lifting his opponent. The tackled player was not injured and the incident had no effect on the Crusaders team. A medical report obtained from the Crusaders confirmed that the player involved suffered no injury.

“Mr Aaron Lloyd on behalf of the player made able and helpful submissions regarding the determination of the correct entry level and I have determined that the entry level is at low end carrying a four week suspension.

“Taking into account the record of the player over a period of more than a decade playing Super Rugby – which is not unblemished – his early plea of guilt and the remorse shown, I have determined to give the player a discount of one week and to suspend the player from all rugby for a period of three weeks.”

Jarrad Hoeta:

Flanker Jarrad Hoeata of New Zealand Super 15 side Otago Highlanders has been banned from the competition for one week, a statement from the organisers said Monday.

The disciplinary action resulted from the forward receiving a third yellow card this season when ‘sin binned’ in a 40-12 home loss to Canterbury Crusaders last weekend.

After judicial officer Jannie Lubbe viewed footage of the three yellow cards, he offered the 29-year-old a one-week ban, which was accepted.

Hoeata is the second Highlanders player to be barred within two days after centre Ma’a Nonu was given a three-week ban Sunday having been red carded for a tip tackle on a Crusader.

Bottom-of-the-table Highlanders have won only twice this season in 14 outings and complete their season with visits to Wellington Hurricanes and Melbourne Rebels.

Siya Kolisi:

The Stormers’ loose forward injury curse has struck again, with in-form flank Siya Kolisi set to miss the rest of the 2013 Super Rugby season.

Kolisi tore ankle ligaments iin Saturday’s 28-3 win over the Cheetahs on Saturday and will be out of action for six weeks.

“It’s the least problematic ligament, the anterior one, so no surgery will be required, but he will out for six weeks,” Stormers coach Allister Coetzee said on Monday.

“The loose forward (injury) bogey doesn’t want to go away,” added the coach,

“But, I guess, we should be thankful that it’s not as serious as the other guys (Eben Etzebeth, Peter Grant, Michael Rhodes) in terms of their ankle injuries.

“It happened in the first half (against the Cheetahs), but Siya didn’t even feel it.

“He felt it on Sunday only… so, yes, it seems like we have a curse at loose forward!”

Kolisi was due to return the week South Africa opens its Rugby Championship campaign at home to Argentina on August 17.

The Stormers said Kolisi did not require surgery.

The 22-year-old loose forward made his Springboks debut against Scotland last month, winning the man of the match award after coming on as an injury replacement in the opening minutes.

The Stormers have two regular-season games left in Super Rugby and only an outside chance of making the playoffs.

The Stormers, currently fourth in the South African Conference and 10th in the Overall standings, have an outside chance of making this year’s playoffs.

The Stormers travel to Port Elizabeth to play the Kings on Saturday (kick-off at 17:05), before concluding their campaign against the Bulls at Newlands (Saturday, July 13 at 19:15).

Louis Fouché:

Vodacom Bulls flyhalf Louis Fouché injured his knee ligaments and will be out of rugby for at least six months. He picked up the injury in the Vodacom Bulls win over the Kings in Pretoria at the weekend.

According to Vodacom Bulls team doctor, Org Strauss, an operation is needed after Fouché ruptured his ACL. He will undergo surgery next week.

Fouché will join Pierre Spies (bicep) and Arno Botha (knee) for a six month stint on the side line.

Cornell Hess (knee) is five months away from action, but Paul Willemse (knee) could return to the training field in a week following successful rehab after his operation.

Lionel Mapoe (shoulder) will return in three months.

Wiaan Liebenberg (AC joint, one week), Hencus van Wyk (ankle, Wednesday) and Ruan Steenkamp (ankle, one week) will all return in the next couple of days.

Piri Weepu & Chris Noakes:

Blues halfback Piri Weepu will join Chris Noakes on a flight back to Auckland on Monday evening after failing to recover from a rib injury he sustained against the Sharks.

Weepu was still very sore on Monday and Blues doctor Stephen Kara believed it was highly unlikely his injury would settle prior to the Super Rugby match against the Cheetahs this weekend so a decision had to be made.

Wayne Ngaluafe, who debuted for the Auckland Blues against France last month, will fly out early tomorrow morning as a replacement.

Stormers big guns:

Victorious DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee is expecting some of his big name players back for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby derby against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth.

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Springbok skipper Jean de Villiers missed the 28-3 win over the Toyota Cheetahs at Newlands this past weekend as he rested the sternum injury that plagued him in the build-up to the last Castle Lager Incoming Series test against Samoa in Pretoria.

As Coetzee reflected afterwards, even if De Villiers had been fit to take his place against the Cheetahs, he probably wouldn’t have done so as the captain’s wife Marlie gave birth to the couple’s second daughter at the weekend.

But De Villiers, now a father second time over, will be ready to play against the Kings, and will lead a team that had confidence significantly boosted by the impressive win over the playoff contenders from Bloemfontein.

It certainly was sweet revenge for the Stormers, as they considered themselves unlucky to lose to the Cheetahs through a late penalty in the first round game before their overseas tour.

Also expected back is big blindside flanker Rynhardt Elstadt, who can also be accommodated at lock, and Springbok prop Pat Cilliers.

You wouldn’t have thought it was necessary if you saw how the depleted Stormers pack faired against a Cheetahs unit that had more current Springboks in it, but Elstadt will be a much needed addition, particularly with the following game, the big derby against the Bulls at Newlands, in mind.

Deon Fourie captained the team while wearing the No 7 shirt against the Cheetahs and did well, but against better teams than the Cheetahs, and the Bulls are on a different level to the Cheetahs, the physicality brought by a hulking flanker like Elstadt will be needed.

Talking of flankers, Siya Kolisi appears to have touched another level since making his Springbok debut a few weeks ago, and the Stormers can’t complain about either his form or his level of commitment as they head into the last two matches.

Coetzee reckoned that Kolisi’s performance, which he capped with a try in the last quarter, was the best he has seen from his prodigy.

“I don’t think I’ve seen Siya play better than this. He was simply outstanding,” said Coetzee.

“His work-rate was outstanding again, and he defended well too. He was all over the show and defended really well. The loose trio was in sync and did well.”

Some critics slammed the Cheetahs for their kicking orientated approach, but in reality they have relied heavily on chip kicks on attack for most of the season, and it is a massive fallacy that the Cheetahs run and pass every ball.

What happened against the Stormers was that those kicks just never worked out, and the Stormers are a team that likes the opposition to kick at them, which in a sense the Cheetahs were forced to do anyway once it became clear there was no way through the Stormers’ well organised and combative defensive system.

Once he’s not able to run onto his own kicks, someone like Willie le Roux, who ended up starting at fullback due to a late injury to Hennie Daniller, looks an ordinary player, and the Newlands game may have underlined why many still don’t see him as a certain starter for the Springboks against a strong team like the All Blacks and Wallabies despite his pyrotechnics against second tier opposition over the past month.

The win meant little to the Stormers’ title chances – some quite freakish results have to happen for them to come back into the frame – but what it did do was show what might have been had they enjoyed just a bit more luck in some of their earlier games.

Even though they have had a debilitating run of injuries, the Stormers could still have been in the playoffs had they not conceded late defeats to the Cheetahs and Rebels, both of them games the Stormers should have won on the balance of play.

The much maligned pack is also now performing well again, and that is no doubt helped by the return of Eben Etzebeth, and it is interesting to note that some of their best scrumming performances have been turned in since veteran Brok Harris was returned to the mix because of injury.

He was cast into the wilderness earlier in the season, but he has done well enough to suggest that Coetzee should be tempted to start with him ahead of the fit again Cilliers against the Kings.

And the same could be said of Scarra Ntubeni, who has had an injury plagued season but started and played well against the Cheetahs as a last minute replacement for Tiaan Liebenberg.

Liebenberg is expected to have his back spasm assessed on Monday and will certainly be an important addition for the following match against the Bulls if he is fit by then, but Ntubeni showed again why he is so highly rated.

Apart from his solid scrumming, he was pinpoint with his lineout throwing until midway through the second half, and his contribution was part of the reason that Coetzee lauded his team for their accuracy afterwards.

“I think our basics were outstanding in this game,” said Coetzee.

Indeed. And had that been the case in the first half of the season, the Stormers would probably already be assured of a place in the playoffs now instead of just strong finishing also-rans.

Coenie Oosthuizen & Elgar Watts:

The Cheetahs will be sweating over the fitness of Springbok prop Coenie Oosthuizen in the build-up to their decisive Super Rugby encounter with the Blues on Saturday.

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Oosthuizen is one of two casualties from the Cheetahs disastrous 3-28 loss to the Stormers at the weekend, with flyhalf Elgar Watts also unable to train on Monday.

Oosthuizen, who took a heavy blow to his leg just above the knee, will be given till Friday’s captain’s run to recover ahead of their must-win encounter with the Blues.

The loss to the Stormers mean the Cheetahs must beat the Blues to book their place in the play-offs later this month.

Watts, who felt discomfort during the build-up to last week’s encounter with the Stormers, was again having trouble with a stiff hamstring muscle on Monday.

He played only 14 minutes at the end of the Newlands loss and the Cheetahs coaching staff are confident he will also be cleared to play.

Oosthuizen will undergo plenty of physiotherapy thus week, but the Cheetahs are in the fortunate position that they have in new Bok Trevor Nyakane a readymade replacement at loosehead prop.

Nyakane, who scored a try on his Test debut for South Africa, will start if Oosthuizen fails a fitness test and then Caylib Oosthuizen will come on to the bench.