Stormers pay the price for Ulster rout as Bok bruiser faces injury layoff

The Cape Town franchise ran in five tries against the hapless Irish outfit to earn another bonus-point victory. But even before kickoff, coach John Dobson was down a Springbok. Bongi Mbonambi, who had just arrived from the Sharks, tweaked his hamstring on Friday.

"I couldn't believe it," recollected Dobson.

"I was so proud of our efforts as a collective to get Bongi in here in 24 hours, and then he comes to me at the captain's run and says, 'My hamstring is sore'.

"I said, 'No, it's not; get back on that field'. He has not played for a long time; we didn't want to tear it, so he will be back. He could play next week, let's put it like that. It was precautionary."

Mbonambi was supposed to alleviate the Stormers crisis at hooker. Andre-Hugo Venter, Deon Fourie, JJ Kotze and Lukhanyo Vokozela are part of the growing injury list. Instead, 19-year-old rookie Altus Rabe was parachuted into the matchday squad.

But the injuries continued after the first whistle. The most serious appears to be the Springbok Evan Roos. The barnstorming No.8 scored a great solo try in the second half but was forced off the field with a knee issue just minutes later. He looked incredibly unhappy leaving the field, but Dobson revealed that it's not as bad as initially feared.

"It looks like a medial ligament, and he hasn't been scanned yet, but it could be serious," Dobson told the press.

"It's not an ACL, so it could be six weeks or it could be a month."

Dobson added that winger Leolin Zas also picked up a knee injury. This brings Cheslin Kolbe's return into sharp focus. The Bok flyer broke his jaw in Rugby's Greatest Rivalry and is set to run out for the Stormers in December.

"Zas also picked up some form of knee [problem], so Cheslin is going to be important," added Dobson.

Finally, another Springbok, lock Ben-Jason Dixon, was due to return but is still suffering a head knock.

"He has got this delayed concussion, which is not great," continued Dobson.

"It's just not something you are going to mess around with. The doctors have agreed that we should step back from BJ and let him come to us when he feels better."

The Stormers travel to Durban to face a resurgent Sharks on 5 December.

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