Lions flank Ruan Venter out for rest of year after knee surgery, ending his valid Springbok hopes

LIONS' Ruan Venter will spend the rest of this year undergoing rehabilitation, after sustaining a five-to-nine-month injury.

We know sport can be cruel, but spare a thought for the unfortunate Ruan Venter — instead of the Lions flank soaking up being part of the Springbok alignment camp in Cape Town, he has been in hospital recovering from knee surgery.

On Wednesday Venter updated his supporters with an Instagram post from his hospital bed.

He said, “Extremely disappointed to end my season like this. Difficult to understand why, but I know that God has a bigger plan. Very thankful to have undergone successful surgery, and I can’t wait to get this journey started. This is only the beginning!”

The 23-year-old Venter injured his ACL, MCL, and the meniscus of his right knee just four minutes into his team’s 31-7 defeat to Leinster in their URC final round fixture in Dublin. He will spend the rest of this year undergoing rehabilitation, as it is a five-to-nine-month injury.