The latest news on the INJURY front in Super Rugby (apart from those reported already) is as follows:

Bulls:

Bulls lock Flip van der Merwe will sit out his team’s next two sessions after suffering an ankle ligament strain against the Cheetahs, team doctor Org Strauss has confirmed.

The lock will be available to play against the Blues on Saturday, Strauss said, but will train lightly during the week in order to give the ligament time to recover.

Dean Greyling (elbow), Deon Stegmann (hamstring) and Pierre Spies (deep cut to the eye) will resume training later in the week.

Wilhelm Steenkamp and Frik Kirsten did not train due to flu.

Johann Sadie (two weeks, shoulder) and Arno Botha (two weeks, back) will return to action soon.

Sharks:

The Sharks are desperate to see him back in action, but there is still no certainty that big Willem Alberts will be back in the mix for Saturday’s crucial Vodacom Super Rugby derby against the Lions in Durban.

The Sharks were hoping that Alberts would be ready for last week’s match against the Stormers, but after taking contact in the initial part of the week, Alberts was unable to complete the build-up with a clean bill of health and was subsequently withdrawn from consideration for the Cape Town trip.

Lions:

The Lions have been struck by a double blow in the front row with the news that both JC Janse van Rensburg and CJ van der Linde will be unavailable for their clash with the Sharks this weekend.

Van der Linde replaced Janse van Rensburg when the big loosehead tore ligaments in his toe in the game against the Hurricanes, but the versatile Springbok left the field shortly afterwards with a groin injury, which also meant uncontested scrums for the rest of the game.

Janse van Rensburg will be out for three months, which is a big loss for the Lions this season considering Van der Linde’s well-known fragility. The Bok front row forward has been spent a significant portion of his career sidelined with injuries and his absence for the next month leaves the Lions a bit short upfront.

Cheetahs:

The Cheetahs welcome back fearsome prop Coenie Oosthuizen as one of three changes to their forward pack for their clash with the Brumbies in Canberra this weekend.

Oosthuizen has been out with a neck injury which he picked up in the Currie Cup last year, but he has recovered fully and will start at loosehead prop with Trevor Nyakane dropping to the bench.

He will hope to give the Cheetahs some impetus up front along with all-action Springbok loose forward Ashley Johnson, who displaces Davon Raubenheimer, and George Earle who comes in for Andries Ferreira at lock.

Brumbies:

Brumbies back Pat McCabe is hoping he gets the all clear to play Super rugby this weekend after completing his rehab well ahead of schedule after undergoing serious shoulder surgery post World Cup.

McCabe injured his shoulder while playing for Australian against the USA during the pool stages of the competition, but went on to play the final two play-off matches before the Wallabies were eliminated in Auckland.

Originally surgeons predicted McCabe would not return until week six of the 2012 Super Rugby competition, but extra attention from Brumbies medical staff Dr Angus Bathgate, Hamish Macauley and Byron Field has set the star for an early return.

Rebels:

The Reds can expect a more dangerous Melbourne Rebels backline this weekend as fullback Kurtley Beale is set to be named in the Rebels line up.

Beale missed the Rebels opening Super Rugby match last weekend against the Waratahs due to an ongoing hamstring problem but has returned to full training and ran at pace on Monday.

In other changes flanker Luke Jones could come in to replace Adam Byrnes who has been given a 10 week ban for coming in contact with Waratahs centre Tom Carter’s eyes.

The Rebels say that they have appealed the ban but it is highly unlikely that Byrnes will be available to play this weekend.

Hurricanes:

The Hurricanes have called Jayden Hayward into their 25-man squad in Perth as injury cover for their Super Rugby match against the Force this weekend.

The Hurricanes left Wellington on Saturday 18 February with an extra space available in case injury cover was required later on in their tour.

The midfield back has been called up as a precaution to cover Tim Bateman and Alapati Leiua who are both carrying hamstring concerns.

Blues:

The Blues left New Zealand early on Sunday for South Africa without Jerome Kaino and in-form wing Rudi Wulf for matches against former champions the Bulls and 2010 finalists the Stormers.

In order to shake things up further the man in charge of the Blues, coach Pat Lam is expected to make changes.

The first change that will probably happen is that Ma’a Nonu will be thrown in and Piri Weepu could also come in for Michael Hobbs who is carrying a groin injury and Stanley said that he just wanted to get on the field to turn it around.

The embattled Blues have received another major blow with Jerome Kaino ruled out of their tour of South Africa.

The Blues, still searching for their first win after two rounds, had hoped the star All Black – New Zealand’s player of the year – would have been fit enough to make the second half of the two-match tour after suffering a shoulder injury in the shock loss to the Chiefs last Friday.

But the Blues medical staff confirmed that Kaino won’t be getting on a plane to the republic as they try to get to the bottom of the nagging injury.

That means they will have to play the Bulls and the Stormers – South Africa’s two best teams – without their star loose forward.

Waratahs:

The Waratahs hooker, Damien Fitzpatrick, is out for the season, having torn knee ligaments on Monday at training, however there is still first choice Tatafu Polota-Nau and John Ulugia as hookers to do duty for the Waratahs.

Michael Foley, the Waratahs coach, said he will be calling up a replacement hooker this week.

Good news is that Berrick Barnes and Pat McCutcheon are both back with the squad and training, but whether they will be match ready for this weekend, is still an open question.

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