Jake White fears the worst after Vodacom Bulls flyer Kurt-Lee Arendse was rushed to hospital following a head knock during Saturday’s quarter-final win against Benetton.
Arendse scored a brace of tries as the Bulls beat the Italian tourists 30-23 in Pretoria to earn a Vodacom URC home semi-final next week.
He dotted down inside the first minute to give the home side the perfect start at Loftus Versfeld, and the left winger doubled his tally 20 minutes later.
However, Arendse came off in the 30th minute following a head-on-head collision with Benetton centre Malakai Fekitoa, and the speedster was permanently substituted by Sergeal Petersen after a failed HIA.
KEO: URC semis an appetiser to SA-Ireland series
Fellow Springbok world champions Canan Moodie and Marco van Staden were ruled out for this weekend’s clash and are doubtful for next week’s playoff, and speaking with SuperSport pundit Jean de Villiers post-match, White said: “It’s almost uncanny; we’ve got four World Cup winners, three of them are now out.
“What are the chances of that; all of a sudden you lose Marco, then you lose Canan and now you lose Kurt-Lee. I don’t think it’s a good call [on Arendse].
“Generally I think it’s something really bad in his face, which is a massive loss – not just for us but for the Springboks when they get into this [year’s] campaign.”
Elaborating in a press conference at Loftus after the final whistle, White explained that Arendse is scheduled for surgery early Sunday on a fractured cheekbone.
“It looks like he’s fractured the bone in his cheekbone,” the director of rugby said. “It’s such a fracture that when I say it’s not too bad, it’s a fracture they can put a plate in to try and get him ready as quickly as they can for the Tests.
“Credit to our medical staff for finding the doctor who will do the surgery tomorrow morning so quickly.
“It’s a little like the [Antoine] Dupont injury. Dupont got the operation the next day.”
Phot0: Lee Warren/Gallo Images