Fans starved of Burger feast
Thu, 01 May 2008 23:44
Sidelined Springbok loose forward Schalk Burger is going on a holiday in an effort to cope with the 'intimidating' prospects of losing out on Stormers action over the next few weeks.
The Stormers face the Brumbies, Waratahs (both at Newlands, Cape Town) and Lions (in Johannesburg) in the last three rounds of Super 14 league action).
"I know for sure that my leg will be in a cast for the next three weeks," Burger told a media conference at Newlands this week.
"After that I'll just have to see how the rehabilitation goes and I don't know how long that will take and when I'll be ready [for the Boks' June Tests against Wales and Italy]."
Normally players returning from knee operations need at least three weeks of rehabilitation once the cast has been removed. The expected six weeks on the sidelines will effectively rule out the blond flank from facing the Six Nations Grand Slam-winners Wales - who face the Boks in Bloemfontein on June 7, and again in Pretoria a week later.
The Springboks squad will be assembling for a training camp in Stellenbosch on Sunday May 18.
That is about the time that Burger's cast is expected to come off, and realistically his best bet for returning to action will be June 21, when the World Cup holders, South Africa, meet Nick Mallett's Italian side at Newlands.
Burger said that he picked up the injury when he entered a ruck during the Stormers' match against the Highlanders at Newlands last week.
"I had just gone into a ruck when someone kneed me. My foot got stuck and that's when I hurt my knee," said Burger. "Rugby is a contact sport, and injuries are bound to happen.
"It was a bit of bad luck but I knew what happened."
Burger is rather cut up that he is missing out on his team's final push for a Super 14 semifinal berth.
"The worst is that the Stormers are now entering the best part of the competition," said Burger. "There's also the possibility of a semifinal."
Burger said he would make the most of the situation by taking a three-week holiday.
Burger will be watching the Stormers from the grandstand on Saturday, and will be hoping the team extends their sequence of victories in this year's Super 14 campaign.
"I hope they will go the whole way. I know they can," he said.
Burger's absence will rob spectators at Newlands on Saturday of witnessing what would have been a likely highlight - a showdown between two of the world's finest flanks, as George Smith will be spearheading the Brumbies' thrust at the breakdowns.
