DHL Western Province head coach Allister Coetzee has released an injury report following his team’s 23-25 Absa Currie Cup loss to the Sharks on Saturday night.

The following players picked up injuries against the Sharks:

– Deon Carstens (prop): Broken nose, out for a minimum of two weeks.

– Burton Francis (flyhalf): Knee, definitely out for the week. He will see a specialist this week.

– Joe Pietersen (fullback): Wrist, definitely out for the week.

Other injury news:

– Flank Rynhardt Elstadt (groin) will be re-assessed on Monday after missing the Sharks match.

– Prop Steven Kitshof (knee) will definitely be back for this week after missing the Sharks match.

– No 8 Duane Vermeulen (knee) will also be back this week, having not played since April.

DHL Western Province will travel to Kimberley this weekend to take on the GWK Griquas on Saturday, August 18 (kick-off 14h30).

Quotes from DHL WP head coach Allister Coetzee:

SPEAKING ABOUT THE SHARKS MATCH:

“Like I said (on Saturday night), individual errors cost us and it’s something that we will address this week.

“We turned our own ball over 27 times, compared to the Sharks’ tally of 17 – you cannot afford to make mistakes like that. Also, if you look at the tackle statistics – they made 112 tackles, we made just 71; it shows how we dominated possession.

“We have got to pick up the pieces and get the confidence back in the team, I think that is what is lacking at the moment, especially for the newcomers.

“The nice thing is that we’re straight back into this week, with a game against Griquas, but we know they won’t be easy – especially in Kimberley.

SPEAKING ABOUT THE RETURN OF DUANE VERMEULEN:

“As you can see, we’ve got a few new injury worries this week. But Duane will definitely be back (this week), it’s just a case of giving him the appropriate amount of game time.”