More injury woes for the Lions

The Lions have been dealt further injuries to their difficult season with the news that Andries Coetzee and Deon van Rensburg will miss the remaining two Super Rugby matches.

Coetzee injured his ankle early on in the match against the Stormers, while Van Rensburg has badly injured the fibula in his leg and will face a spell on the sidelines.

In addition to those injured Lions caretaker coach Johan Ackermann identified scrumhalf Tian Meyer as another player to pick up a knock in the Stormers match. Meyer injured his shoulder and is in doubt for this weekend's clash with the Melbourne Rebels.

"We think Tian's shoulder dislocated and then popped back in place so he is a worry and Ruan Combrink has broken a finger, but we can strap that and he should be available to face the Rebels," Ackermann told this website.

The Lions were without props CJ van der Linde and Pat Cilliers against the Stormers and both players are unlikely to tackle the Rebels either according to Ackermann.

"We'll give them time and CJ is much closer to a return than Pat is at this stage," the former Springbok lock said.

"I was very happy with the way Jacobie Adriaanse and Ruan Dreyer did at tighthead, so we won't push the injured guys too quickly and we'll stick with the guys who did a good job on the weekend."

By Timmy Hancox