11/02/2008 11:44

Pretoria - Bulls coach Frans Ludeke will only know later this week which of his players currently on the injury list - Rayno Gerber, Akona Ndungane, Bryan Habana, Bakkies Botha, Chiliboy Ralepelle and Pierre Spies - will be able to play in Cape Town against the Stormers on Saturday.

According to the Bulls' website, Gerber injured his Achilles in the Bulls' first warm-up match against the Boland Cavaliers and started running last week. If he is ruled out Ludeke might call on the services of the young promising Werner Kruger, because Richard Bands will be out for another week or two.

Kruger, who has played for the SA Under-21s for two years, is a mobile prop and perfectly suited for the new laws. As an interesting aside, there were only four scrums in the match between the Bulls and the Lions which means props will have a number of new responsibilities as well as newly required skills under the new laws.

Ndungane has been struggling with a shin injury for the last couple of weeks and Habana picked up a rib injury against the Lions. Both will know later this week if they are able to play against Rassie Erasmus's team.

Botha's ankle is still a big concern and the possibility of him playing at Newlands is very slim. However, Danie Rossouw's neck injury is something of the past and together with Wilhelm Steenkamp they will have to fill the massive gap left by Botha and Victor Matfield.

Ralepelle is expected to start playing this week but because of the injury history of his knee, no chances will be taken. Derick Kuun, along with Ralepelle are the Bulls' top hookers and if the Ralepelle can't play, James van der Walt will be Kuun's understudy.

Spies is still on medication and as long as this is the case, he will not be allowed to play. The results of his blood tests were expected last Friday, but weren't available.