Lions pay the price for Windhoek victory

Lions coach Hugo van As must be counting the cost of the weekend's trip to Windhoek because of the serious injuries to backs Wikus Venter and Andre Pretorius.

Despite picking up a full house five Vodacom Cup points, he is unhappy at the way the injuries happened and at one stage was thinking of citing the Namibian player responsible for both tackles.

Venter's broken jaw - only a couple of weeks after a cheekbone fracture - has sidelined him for six weeks or more while Pretorius's broken cheekbone will keep the flyhalf out for about the same length of time.

But the real short-term result of Venter's injury is that it has also cost him the services of Dean Hall for Saturday's trip to Kimberley, as the powerful wing has been called up for the Cats by coach Laurie Mains as Venter's replacement.

Further bad news is that Bruce Thorne will have to rest for at least another ten days to two weeks after it became obvious during the game with Namibia that the rangy lock forward is still feeling the affects of an injury that first plagued him late last season.

"With so many injuries to others, I cannot afford to risk Thorne so he'll take a break from training," said Van As, who hopes to name his side by the middle of the week.

Now that Pretorius and Hall are unavailable, Van As will reshape his backline to include Gordon Frasca in midfield and Johnny Wearne at flyhalf.

Meanwhile, the Waratahs arrived back in Sydney after their victory over the Northern Bulls - which followed a Newlands defeat on their two-match trip to South Africa - to learn that Wallaby centre Nathan Grey, who stayed behind, won't be fit to play on Saturday. His broken thumb needs more time to heal. Also doubtful is big lock Peter Besseling, who picked up an injury during the match at Loftus but was one of the NSW's tour successes.

The Cats also landed with the Waratahs on the back of two wins and ready to stretch that to three against the Waratahs, but headed for some shuteye at their hotel before a limb-loosening training run on Monday.

Last Saturday's Ellis Park attendance of 26 500, despite the monsoon-like storm that started mid-afternoon and kept thousands of supporters at home, was greeted by Gauteng Lions Rugby Union's John Prinsloo as very satisfactory.

"It must still have been one of the weekend's best Super 12 gates and would have been much higher, but for the weather."

Meanwhile, Queensland Reds suffered yet another blow when their captain and star Wallaby lock John Eales suffered a serious eye injury against the Highlanders and will be sidelined for six weeks with a fractured eye socket bone.

After two successive defeats his absence for the Reds' next five successive home matches at Ballymore, including clashes with the Bulls and Stormers next month, is a crushing blow.

But Eales is expected to be fit again for the Reds' matches on their South African tour against the Sharks on April 22 and the Cats a week later.