Lions scrumhalf Ross Cronjé could be out for up to eight weeks after breaking his nose in Saturday's warm-up match against the Bulls in Polokwane.

Cronjé was set to start the season as the Lions' first-choice scrumhalf, but could now miss the first few games in a significant blow for the Lions ahead of their Super Rugby opener against the Sunwolves on 27 February.

'It looks worse than Kwagga Smith’s nose,' coach Johan Ackermann told IOL. 'It’s a really bad break and we can just hope nothing has moved inside or that a little bone is badly broken. Ross was in a lot of pain afterwards, and there’s a lot of swelling, but the doctors will decide [on Monday] whether he needs to be operated on. If he does go under the knife, we’re looking at about eight weeks out.'

Faf de Klerk is now likely to wear the No 9 jersey at the start of the Lions' Super Rugby campaign, while Ricky Schroeder could come into the squad.

Photo: Sabelo Mngoma/BackpagePix