South Africa have said that Ulster's Ruan Pienaar injured a ligament in his knee during Saturday's Rugby Championship game against New Zealand.
South Africa said that Pienaar had injured his "medial cruciate ligament" [sic] but did not give a precise indication of how long he might be out for. A Boks statement said he would miss the rest of the Rugby Championship, which concludes on 4 October.
Pienaar is due to have scans on Monday to determine the extent of the injury.
The highly influential halfback was carried off in the 36th minute of Saturday's game with a knee injury after a collision with his team-mate Duane Vermeulen.
Ulster play their first European Champions Cup game against Leicester on 18 October, and will sorely miss Pienaar should he be unavailable.
Last season he scored all Ulster’s points when they beat the Tigers at Welford Road.
