Major injury trouble for struggling Kings

Port Elizabeth - The Southern Kings continue to battle with a growing injury list after eight rounds of PRO14 action.

Team doctor Gershwin Kortje confirmed on Tuesday that the most recent casualties following the side’s narrow 31-38 defeat to defending champions Leinster a fortnight ago are props Schalk Ferreira (fractured cheek) and Justin Forwood (ankle).

“I can confirm that Schalk Ferreira has been ruled out of action for between eight to twelve (8 to 12) weeks with a blowout fracture to the left periorbital bones,” Dr Kortje said.

“We also have Justin Forwood who is seeing a specialist in Johannesburg for an ankle injury. We will await the diagnosis from the specialist.”

Another injury concern after the clash against Leinster was hooker Alandre van Rooyen, who came off the field in the second half with a concussion.

Kortje confirmed that Van Rooyen had fully recovered and had been cleared to be ready for the next fixture against Connacht at the Nelson Mandela University’s Madibaz Stadium on Sunday, November 25.

Loose-forward Andisa Ntsila is also seeing a specialist this week after sustaining a knee injury in the Round 7 match against Scarlets.

The rest of the Kings' injury list includes:

Martin Dreyer (knee, out for the season)

Bobby de Wee (shoulder, out for the season)

Luvuyo Pupuma (shoulder)

Henry “Bakkies” Brown (ankle)

Michael Willemse (shoulder)

Xandre Vos (neck)

Sarel Pretorius (foot)

Pieter Scholtz (shoulder)

Oliver Zono (knee)

Sibusiso Sithole (knee)

Rossouw de Klerk (chest)