Another wounded Bok: Arendse in race against time for Irish Tests with fractured cheekbone

Kurt-Lee Arendse joined the growing number of World Cup-winning Springboks either in a race against time or ruled out of the world champions' Test series against Ireland.

Having started the Bulls' 30-23 win in their United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-final against Italian side Benetton brightly by scoring seconds into the game and in the 18th minute, Arendse went off in the 30th minute after a sickening clash of heads with opposition centre Malakai Fekitoa as he tried to tackle the former All Black.

Arendse was initially taken off the field for an HIA (Head Injury Assessment), but he would fail to emerge from the tunnel, having fractured a bone in his cheek.

Arendse will now go for surgery on Sunday morning to fix the break in what the Bulls' director of rugby, Jake White, hopes will give him an Antoine Dupont-esque chance at a speedy enough recovery to line up against the Irish in July.

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"It looks like he's fractured the bone in his cheekbone," White began.

"It's such a fracture that when I say it's not too bad, it's a fracture they can put a plate in to try and get him ready as quickly as they can for the Tests.

"Every kid wants to be in the Tests, and credit to our medical staff for finding the doctor who will do the surgery tomorrow morning so quickly.

"It's a little like the Dupont injury. Dupont got the operation the next day [and was ready to play against the Springboks in the World Cup quarter-final a few weeks later]."

The 15-capped Springbok with 13 tries joins Bulls World Cup winners Canan Moodie and Marco van Staden on the sidelines, with Moodie having had an operation on a broken left index finger this week and Van