Pretorius blow for Force

Fly-half set to miss entire Super 14 season

By James Mason   Last updated: 5th February 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Pretorius blow for Force

Pretorius: Injury woe

My body was in the best condition it has been in a long time and after watching the video footage of the training session and seeing when the injury occurred it didn't look like much at all.

Andre Pretorius
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Western Force have suffered a massive blow to their Super 14 season after South African Andre Pretorius was ruled out for the whole campaign.

The World Cup-winner suffered a torn hamstring during training on Wednesday with the 31-year-old expected to be sidelined for around three months.

Pretorius is devastated about the injury, but the fly-half insists he will remain in Perth to support the team.

He said: "I've gone to work with the boys for so long now and it has been my best pre-season in many years.

"I'm really disappointed that I won't be able to have the opportunity to represent the Western Force and play rugby with the new mates that I have made here.

"My body was in the best condition it has been in a long time and after watching the video footage of the training session and seeing when the injury occurred it didn't look like much at all.

Disappointment

"The physios at the club said it was just a freakish type of injury.

"I guess the only good thing from a personal point of view is that the Force has the best hamstring rehab program that I have ever worked with.

"It's a bitter pill to swallow after putting in all the hard yards and committing myself to a great bunch of guys at the club.

"I still want to remain involved and offer any assistance I can to help make this a successful season for the Force.

Coach John Mitchell is equally disappointed at losing Pretorius, but admits they have to quickly assess their options in the fly-half position.

He added: "It is really unlucky for Andre, I feel gutted for him.

"From a playing perspective we now have to look at what we've got and move forward without him, that's just part of rugby."

Grand Final Winner 2010 Win Outright: Western Force 500/1

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