Loose forward curse strikes Brüssow

The dreaded loose forward injury curse has struck the Free State Cheetahs' Springbok flank Heinrich Brüssow again.

Cheetahs assistant coach Hawies Fourie confirmed that Brüssow, who has been struggling to force his way back into the Bok selection frame after a series of injuries, could be ruled out for the rest of the season.

"Heinrich has gone for a scan," Fourie told this website, when asked about the latest injury setback to strike Brüssow, who missed large parts of the past two years through a succession of knee and rib injuries.

"He injured his AC joint [left shoulder]," Fourie said, adding: "If it is just the AC joint we can inject [a pain killer] and he can still play, but if it is his rotator cuff as well he will be sidelined for the rest of the season."

The Cheetahs hope to know by Tuesday what the full extent of the injury is.

To add insult to injured, fellow Bok loose forward Hendro Scholtz - who came out of retirement to help out a team in desperate short supply of quality loose forwards - took a blow to the head in the 35-20 win over Griquas at the weekend.

Scholtz will have to undergo SARU's cognitive tests and the Cheetahs will make a call on him later in the week.

Although the Cheetahs have a few other "bumps and bruises", loose forward remain the team's biggest headache.

"We seem to have a loose forward curse, I'm not sure what is wrong," Fourie told this website.

The Cheetahs currently have quality loose forwards like Springbok Juan Smith, Frans Viljoen, Lucas Floors, Johannes  Prinsloo and Phillip van der Walt on the sideline.

By Jan de Koning