Handre Pollard of South Africa during the Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool B match between South Africa and Scotland at St James Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, the UK, on Saturday. Picture: GALLO IMAGES/STEVE HAAG
Handre Pollard. Picture: GALLO IMAGES/STEVE HAAG

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COACH Nollis Marais’s reaction on hearing that his star flyhalf, Handre Pollard, was out for the year showed how devastating this news was.

The Bulls mentor, preparing for his first Super Rugby campaign, was chatting to journalists about his already growing injury list on the Loftus Versfeld B-field when his phone rang.

It was team doctor Herman Rossouw. Marais listened, his jaw dropped and he slumped to the pitch and rolled over.

Then he sat up and said: "Pollard is out for the year."

If there was still a Springbok coach, he would probably have responded similarly. At least Pat Lambie, out for two months with a shoulder injury, should be fit and ready for the first Test against Ireland at Newlands on June 11.

Pollard was central to Marais’s game plans for the season.

"With the explosive backline we have, he was going to be a crucial part of our game. We were going to play around him. Now he’s out."

Making the injury even harder to swallow, perhaps, was that it happened out of nothing.

Pollard had been making good progress from a shoulder injury he sustained in Japan while playing for NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes. Marais was set to field him this weekend, when the Bulls take on the Lions in the last warm-up match ahead of Super Rugby.

Just as cricketer Quinton de Kock injured his knee while walking his dogs, Pollard ruptured his knee ligaments while casually practising his passing at training on Monday.

"Ja," Marais sighed. "It is just not my day. Pollard was running, doing some passing and his knee just gave in. Nobody touched him. There was nobody within five metres of him. We were training and his shoulder was fine, he looked brilliant. He looked like he was a guy starting his Springbok career. We discussed it and I said he would play 20 to 30 minutes this weekend."

With Pollard out, the fight for the Bulls No10 jersey will be between Tian Schoeman, who was the main pivot for the team in the Currie Cup competition, and new signing Francois Brummer.

"Francois and Tian now become really vital for us," Marais said.

"We started Tian in Zimbabwe (against the Cheetahs), with Brummer coming off the bench. This weekend, it will be the other way around.

"The guys will play an equal amount of time so we can see who controls the game the best. At the moment, it is 50-50 between the two of them."

Depth beyond the two could be an issue for the Bulls.

He was running, doing some passing and his knee just gave in. Nobody touched him. There was nobody within five metres of him