CAPE TOWN - It was a classic move – Gio Aplon came into the line from fullback following a Bulls lineout, and he stepped the first defender in his sight, Pumas wing Tafiwa Mafura.
There was also a little show-and-go in it, showing his absolute class as Mafura fell for it hook, line and sinker.
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But he didn’t quite see Erich Cronjé coming in from his blindside, and the Pumas No 13 brought him down. In the ensuing breakdown, both Cronjé and teammate Etienne Taljaard were competing for the ball, while Madosh Tambwe and Chris Smith were trying to clean them out.
In the resulting melee, with Aplon desperately trying to shovel the ball back to the Bulls’ side, he got hurt – he started to feel his heavily-strapped left knee, following his ACL ligament injury that took him seven months to recover from.
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He was lying with his arm over his face in disbelief… Aplon was helped up and limped off the field, and Bulls coach Jake White fears the worst.
“It’s his knee again. He did his ACL (previously), and it’s the same knee. I’m not quite sure (how bad it is). But you can imagine at his age now, the recovery time… If he’s out for another couple of months, the chances of him coming back again are very slim,” the Bulls boss said after the 32-27 Currie Cup win at Loftus Versfeld.
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“I don’t want to be the prophet of doom, but I’ve been in the change-room enough to know that sometimes it ends like that, and it’s not ideal. You want to end holding the Currie Cup or a trophy above your head and walk away. But sometimes you can’t ever write your script the way you want it to be.
“You’re too small” “you’re too old” “no player comes back from a torn ACL at 38” Gio Aplon, ready to prove the haters wrong tonight 🔥 pic.twitter.com/emPuMn4CIp
“I’ve got to say I feel for him… it doesn’t look good. He rushed himself back – not gung-ho rushed himself back. He just wanted to get back on to the field so badly. He worked hard, he’s so dedicated. He spent some time with his family in Cape Town.
“He lived here and spent every day he could in the gym with the rehab staff, and really wanted to be part of the team again.”
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Aplon is currently 38, and will turn 39 in October. Just last week, ahead of the Rainbow Cup final in Treviso, he said he was not sure when he would call it a day.
“I am just 20 minutes into my new career! So I have a bit of time to decide. Most importantly, I hope to have an influence on Saturday so that we can win this game, and from there, I really want to play some Currie Cup rugby,” he said.
“After that, I will make a decision on how things will go. But you know how things are – you say one thing, and after drinking two beers, then you say something else. So, I don’t want to say something and put myself into a corner, and then tomorrow you will say ‘But you said you are finishing up!’. So, I will see how it goes… It won’t be long, but I will see how it goes this week and then the next month or so.”
Having played 17 Tests for the Springboks, become a Stormers legend, and played in France and Japan, Aplon wanted to make one final contribution to the game on home turf. But now he may not get that chance to retire on his own terms.
“Look, I want to stress that he was always helping me out as a senior player. Our backline, with David Kriel and Stravino Jacobs, and Zak Burger and Keagan Johannes… The make-up of our (backline) – Duffy Kellerman, JC Nel who was here and Marnus Potgieter – was very young, and I realised that I needed an older, wiser guy to come into the team,” White said.
“He knew it was always a risk for him. He wanted to be part of it. I don’t have to tell you this – he is a fantastic human being, fantastic rugby player. Should have played 100 Tests for South Africa. I’ve been lucky enough to coach him in Japan as well.
“But it was always a risk, and if it’s finished, it’s probably not the ideal way for him to finish. But I will say that he wouldn’t have wanted it to end like that, but at least the team won – and I know in his heart, he probably is just glad that we won the game.
“He’s won enough trophies in his life, and he’s been successful at the Bulls in the short time he’s been here.”
@ashfakmohamed
IOL Sport