Cheetahs lose Pietersen for Super Rugby start

Bloemfontein based Super Rugby franchise the Cheetahs have suffered their first significant injury of the season as SA under-20 winger Sergeal Pietersen has broken his jaw.

Pietersen was with the Southern Kings in 2013 and has joined the Cheetahs for the 2015 season.

His Super Rugby debut for the Cheetahs will however have to wait as he suffered a broken jaw in the Cheetahs Super Rugby warm up with the Bulls in Polokwane.

Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has confirmed that Pietersen will be missing for around two months of this season.

“It looks like we’ve lost him for between six and eight weeks,” Drotske told SuperSport.

When Pietersen went off for the Cheetahs on Saturday he was replaced with Clayton Blommetjies.

Another concern for Drotske’s Cheetahs is SA under-20 prop Maks van Dyk who will have an MRI scan on Monday after he was stretchered off with a suspected neck injury.

X-rays have already cleared Van Dyk of any serious injury and the MRI scan is precautionary.

The Cheetahs expect to have Springbok winger Cornal Hendricks available for this week’s warm up against the Stormers as well as fellow Boks Willie le Roux and Teboho Mohoje.