A star Vodacom Bulls back has been ruled out of Saturday’s north-south derby against the Stormers at Loftus.
Scrumhalf Embrose Papier has been withdrawn, with Paul de Wet inheriting the No 9 jersey and Zak Burger coming on to the bench.
The Bulls have named a Springbok-laden lineup for the match as they look to continue their recent resurgence. In contrast, the Stormers arrive in Pretoria under pressure after suffering three successive defeats.
However, Ackermann warned that form often counts for little when the traditional rivals collide.
Stormers centurions Neethling Fouché, Deon Fourie and Damian Willemse are all in the visitors’ starting lineup, along with Ruhan Nel who takes over the captaincy.
Kick-off is at 2pm.
AFRICA PICKS: Bulls vs Stormers URC betting preview
BULLS – 15 David Kriel, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Willie le Roux.
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STORMERS – 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel (c), 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Bench: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Paul de Villiers, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Imad Khan, 22 Jonathan Roche, 23 Wandisile Simelane.
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
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