Kings doctor has his hands full

Cape Town - As the Southern Kings look to wrap up their three-week tour of Ireland and Wales this week in Cardiff, the side’s medical team will be keeping a close eye on some of the players following a tough match against defending PRO14 champions, Leinster, last Friday.

Following the defeat, team doctor, Gershwin Kortje, dealt with the usual knocks and bruises that come with hard-fought PRO14 clashes, but will this week be closely monitoring lock Stephan Greeff, No 8 Ruaan Lerm and fullback Ulrich Beyers ahead of the Southern Kings’ Round 17 showdown with the Cardiff Blues at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday.

“Stephan Greeff and Ruaan Lerm sustained concussions in the match against Leinster on Friday,” Kortje confirmed.

“They did not pass the pitch-side concussion tests. However, they did pass the re-evaluation concussion tests. They will go through the Gradual Return to Play (GRTP) protocol this week to ultimately determine whether they are fit to play in our next match on Saturday.

“Ulrich Beyers sustained a quadriceps muscle contusion. He is being managed conservatively and will undergo functional tests this week to determine whether he is fit or not for the upcoming match.”

Dr Kortje expressed relief at the recovery of team captain, JC Astle, who started the match off the bench last week after having suffered from an upper respiratory tract infection ahead of the match against Leinster.

“JC Astle played and he was able, as always, to give 100% for about 70 minutes while he was on the field. He had to come off the field for a moment for the small laceration to his head he sustained during the game. He was stitched, and thereafter he went back on the field and completed the game without any further problems,” said the doctor.”

Southern Kings head coach, Deon Davids, will name his match-day squad for the match against Cardiff Blues on Friday.

Kick-off is at 21:35 SA time.