Bulls' Bok prop out for a month

The Bulls will be without the services of two key Springbok forwards when the Super Rugby season gets underway next week.

It was confirmed on Monday that prop Marcel van der Merwe has joined fellow Bok Flip van der Merwe on the sidelines.

Van der Merwe will miss the opening weeks of the Super Rugby season due to a medial knee ligament injury.

The injury occurred last Saturday in London, when the Bulls demolished English club Saracens 39-26.

The front row forward, Van der Merwe, injured his knee and pulled his hamstring in the second half and will be out for three to four weeks, team doctor Org Strauss confirmed on Monday.

The Bok prop was the only casualty in the match and Bulls coach Frans Ludeke should have a fairly fit squad to pick from for their first match of the season - against the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld on February 14.

Flip van der Merwe (with a pectoral muscle injury that will sideline him till mid-April) headlines the team's long-term injury list. The Bok lock suffered his injury in pre-season training.

Other not likely to be back soon include Bandise Maku (pectoral, set to return in July), Hencus van Wyk (lisfranc fracture dislocation, end of February), Pierre Schoeman (ACL rupture knee, July), Adriaan Strauss (calf, next week) and Jason Jenkins (quad, later this week or next week).