Spies's season is over

Bulls captain Pierre Spies will undergo surgery on a torn bicep muscle which will rule him out of action for the rest of the season.

The No.8 suffered the injury during the Springboks' convincing victory over Samoa at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, and as a result will not return to the playing field this season.

Spies saw two specialists, one in Johannesburg and one in Pretoria for opinions and ultrasound scans revealed the damage.

"Really gutted finding out yesterday my season is over. Tore a bicep tendon in 13th minute of the game vs Samoa. God always has a plan," he tweeted.

The Bok loose forward will undergo surgery on Tuesday.

The blow comes at a critical time for the Bulls, who have lost a spate of influential players to injury in recent weeks.

Scrumhalves Jano Vermaak and Francois Hougaard are doubtful for the clash against the Kings this weekend whilst loose forward Arno Botha has also been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury picked up playing for the Springboks against Scotland two weeks ago.

Vermaak is recovering from a hamstring injury picked up against Italy three weeks ago.

Hougaard will see a specialist on Tuesday to look at his on-going knee issue.

The Bulls' long term injury list  also includes Paul Willemse (grade three, MCL knee injury - three weeks till his return), Cornell Hess (ACL/MCL tear - five months), Lionel Mapoe (shoulder dislocation - at least three months) and Arno Botha (ACL tear - six months).