Many believed that the former Cheetahs pivot was set to make a return to the green-and-gold for the End of Year Tour following his sublime form after joining the Bulls earlier in the year.

Goosen has ruptured his ACL and will require surgery to repair the damage. In a best-case scenario, Goosen will be sidelined for seven to nine months.

The Bulls director of rugby confirmed that the backline general will be sidelined for a lengthy period.

“He will have to undergo an operation," he said, ahead of the Bulls' meeting with Edinburgh on Saturday.

“That, unfortunately, carries inherently with it a 7-to-9-month rehabilitation period. The problem with an injury of this nature is that we've seen how players return and then re-injure the exact same ligament almost immediately.

“It doesn't really matter if he gets the operation today or only next week. There's no way we're going to rush this process. For now, we're just hoping the surgery goes well and take things from there.”

Meanwhile, the Springbok coach, Jacques Nienaber, will announce his 32-player squad for the End of Year Tour tomorrow.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport