Pretoria - Handre Pollard's Super Rugby season could be over.
The Bulls flyhalf continues to battle an ankle injury and while he was expected to play a part in the South Africa 'A' clash against the French Barbarians in Soweto this past weekend, it now looks as though we may not see him in Super Rugby again this year.
Pollard was withdrawn on the eve of that SA 'A' game and was then ruled out of the Bulls squad for Friday night's clash against the Sharks in Durban.
And listening to coach Nollis Marais speak at his team announcement in Pretoria on Thursday, Pollard could be out for a little while longer.
The Bulls only have three Super Rugby matches left this season, and with no chance of making the play-offs, Pollard may have to look toward 2018 as a fresh start.
"It might be another week or two," Marais said of Pollard's injury
"If he comes back we'll decide if he plays in the SuperSport Challenge or, if he's fit enough, he might be on the bench for us, but he won't be in a starting position for us.
"We need to nurse him back, but that the doctor can only tell me next week. We won't rush him."
Marais has this week turned to Tony Jantjies to be his playmaker - the 25-year-old making his first start for the Bulls.
"He's been working really hard. He's had a tough career with a lot of ups and downs but he's put it all behind him. He's putting all the effort in," said Marais.
"It's a good chance to give Tony a chance to play at the top level.
"It's a big game, but if he's going to be our flyhalf in the Currie Cup then we have to give him a bot of exposure."
Kick-off on Saturday is at 19:00.
Teams:
Sharks
15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 S’bura Sithole, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Sbu Nkosi, 10 Garth April, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tera Mtembu, 6 Philip van der Walt (captain), 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Thomas du Toit
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Marius Louw
Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Duncan Matthews, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Kefentse Mahlo, 10 Tony Jantjies, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Nic de Jager, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Conraad Van Vuuren, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Pierre Schoeman
Substitutes: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Johnroy Jenkins, 19 Shuan Adendorff, 20 Renaldo Bothma, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Burger Odendaal, 23 Tian Schoeman