Pat Lam confirms Van Rensburg sidelined until December after two concussions in three games

Benhard Janse van Rensburg will sit out until December 4 after Bristol Bears head coach Pat Lam confirmed the England centre has been given a six-week stand-down following two significant concussions in his last three matches. The 29-year-old’s most recent injury came on October 3 when he was knocked unconscious attempting a tackle on Henry Pollock during Bristol’s Gallagher Premiership fixture against Northampton.

Van Rensburg, who made his Test debut against Fiji in July, will also miss the second phase of the Nations Championship as a result of the enforced absence. Lam says the centre is currently participating in training but is restricted from contact work for at least another fortnight before being cleared to feature in the next block of Premiership fixtures, beginning with the visit to The Rec.

“We were told ideally four to six weeks, but preferred the six weeks. So we’re in week four now. So he’ll be ready to go when we come back for Bath, 100 per cent,” Lam said on his midweek media call.

The Bears coach revealed that Van Rensburg had been eager to return earlier, having initially understood the recovery window to be as short as four weeks, but that an independent medical advisor recommended the more cautious timeline — a decision Lam fully backed.

“He was keen to come back after the normal protocol, and then the independent medical advisor wanted a bit more time on it. BV really wanted to play last week, because he’d sort of heard the four to six weeks. But everyone wanted to go on the more cautious side, and I supported that as well.”

Despite the frustration, Lam made clear that Van Rensburg’s return is imminent and that rivals should expect a sharp response from the centre when he does come back. “He’s extremely frustrated and I’m pretty sure, off-site, he is probably hitting something somewhere. But he’ll be ready to go all guns blazing for round six,” Lam added.