Bulls on Sbu Nkosi's playing future: 'Our concern is for the person, not the player'

Springbok wing Sbu Nkosi's Bulls future remains uncertain after Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone said their immediate focus was not on the player's contractual obligations as yet but on his personal well-being.

Nkosi told News24 he was battling mental health issues brought on by the pressures of playing rugby at the elite end after disappearing for three weeks from his employers.

EXCLUSIVE | Struggling Bok star Nkosi on being missing for 3 weeks: 'I've been curled up in a ball'

The Bulls opened a missing persons file with the SAPS and appealed to the media to help find the World Cup winner last weekend, who was eventually located at his father's home in Emalahleni on Monday.

Rathbone said they were willing to give Nkosi the break he evidently needed to get back to full mental health and assist him in that regard.

Rathbone added that there were no immediate plans to terminate the player's contract but they wanted to give him the necessary support.

"It's difficult to put a timeline on it. We need to give him his space to get back to full health," the CEO said.

"We are arranging that support for the time when he's ready to get that support.

"We are there to give him his space. I said to him yesterday that our goal is to get him back on a rugby field and feeling like a champion again, even if that means it's not at the Bulls.

"If he needs a new start, that's fine but it's our job to get him ready."

However, Rathbone said going AWOL did have procedural consequences for the player who is employed by the company, although those consequences were not spelt out at the press conference held at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday morning.

"He is an employee of the company and being absent without leave for three weeks does have consequences.

"But, at this