Gus Theron was on Thursday withdrawn from the Stormers squad for Saturday’s Super 12 match against the Highlanders at Newlands.
Theron trained on Wednesday afternoon without a problem, but reported that his knee was injured on Thursday morning. The injury was confirmed as a left knee medial miniscular tear (internal knee cartilage tear).
Theron will be operated on tomorrow. His recovery and rehabilitation should take between three and four weeks.
The Highlanders, meanwhile, have stuck to the team that beat the Reds 39-8 last week.
Eagles centre Gavin Hume will come onto the bench as cover for Theron.
Stormers: Werner Greeff, Breyton Paulse, Marius Joubert, De Wet Barry, Pieter Rossouw, Chris Rossouw, Bolla Conradie, Adri Badenhorst, Hendrik Gerber, Corne Krige (captain), Selborne Boome, Quinton Davids, Eddie Andrews, Pieter Dixon, Daan Human. Replacements: Tjoepie van den Heever, Pat Barnard, Willem Stoltz, Pierre Uys, Neil de Kock, Gaffie du Toit, Gavin Hume.
Highlanders: Glen Horton, Aisea Tuilevu, Seilala Mapusua, Ryan Nicholas, Hayden Pedersen, Tony Brown, Jimmy Cowan, Sam Harding, Josh Blackie, Craig Newby, Simon Maling, Filipo Levi, Carl Hayman, Anton Oliver (captain), Carl Hoeft. Replacements: Jason Rutledge, Clarke Dermody, Daniel Quate, Grant Webb, Ben Hurst, Nick Evans, Iliesa Tanivula. – Sapa