Smit, who made his debut for the Cheetahs in their victory in Bloemfontein, injured his shoulder and the team fear that this could be bad news. While Smit is an excellent player and has also played for the Springboks against the Barbarians, he is known for being injury prone.

On Sunday, Smit told OFM Sport that he landed badly on his shoulder and its a bit tender.

The Cheetahs coach, Hawies Fourie, in his turn said they are under a bit of pressure in the loose-forward department.

“Roelof is the only guy with a serious injury in the game against the Bulls, said Fourie.

“It's a bit of a pity because in our squad we don't really have a lot of loose-forwards that are ready to play.

“In the last six to ten minutes we played with three hookers in the pack. Marnus van der Merwe, Marko Janse van Rensburg and Chucky van der Westhuizen were all on the field. That must be some sort of record playing with three hookers in the team, but that is what happened.

“We had to do that because we didn't have any other loose-forward that are ready. Oupa Mohoje and Siba Qoma will return to training on Monday, so that will help.”

The Cheetahs will tackle the Emerging Irish on Sunday afternoon at 15:00 in their next Toyota Challenge game.

On Wednesday at 17:00, the Pumas face Emerging Ireland, while at 19:00 the Griquas tackle the Bulls.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport