Bulls and South Africa lock R.G. Snyman has undergone ankle surgery and will miss the opening two months of of the season, his Super Rugby franchise has announced .
Snyman returned to the Bulls at the weekend from a brief stint at Honda Heat in Japan, where he sustained an ankle injury.
Scans on Monday revealed the damage was more serous than had been anticipated, and surgery was recommended, officials said.
The 207cm second-rower is expected to be available again only in April.
This is the just the latest injury blow to the Pretoria-based side.
Springboks Marnitz Boshoff, Travis Ismaiel and Marco van Staden are set to return only at the end of March, while hookers Edgar Marutlulle and Jaco Visagie are also out.
Visagie is expected to be back in six weeks' time.