Kings report new injuries

Following their 37-21 Currie Cup defeat to the Lions in Johannesburg at the weekend, the EP Kings have reported new injury concerns.

Lock Cameron Lindsay suffered a knee injury in the defeat at Ellis Park and will see a specialist on Wednesday.

Centre Ronnie Cooke picked up a toe injury and will be sent for X-rays on Monday, while the man who replaced him, JP du Plessis, also suffered an injury.

Du Plessis has a soft tissue knee injury and will be monitored during the week.

Lock Steven Stykes – who missed last week’s clash due to a rib injury – will also be monitored during the week.

Players on the long-term injury list include flyhalf/centre Shane Gates (foot), flank Jacques Engelbrecht (hip), lock David Bulbring (shoulder), flyhalf Gary van Aswegen (knee), flank Aidon Davis (knee) and flyhalf/fullback George Whitehead (knee).

Meanwhile, there’s still great uncertainty at the Kings after it was revealed last week that the players had not been paid their August salaries.

The Kings players had gone on strike and had not trained for much of the week, with coach Brent Janse van Rensburg making 10 changes for the clash against the Lions. Skipper Luke Watson was a notable omission for the trip to Johannesburg and no explanation was given as to why so many changes were made.

In their next assignment, the Kings host the Free State Cheetahs at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this Friday (19:10 kick-off).

Herman Mostert – Sport24