Bulls head to Galway without Wilco, Handre and Williams

Galway may hold some good memories for the Vodacom Bulls after they won there for the first time in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship last season, but their trip this time around has a different tinge to it after their loss to Ulster in Belfast on Saturday night.

The integration of the Springboks didn’t give the team the boost they would have wanted and their disjointed performance saw them slump to a 28-7 defeat.

Now, with Connacht also looking to make amends after a shock loss to Cardiff on Saturday, the Bulls will have to do without both powerhouse tighthead Wilco Louw and flyhalf Handre Pollard, both of whom will leave the squad to return home.

They are also without fullback Devon Williams, who was injured in the Ulster defeat and will return home while flyhalf Johan Goosen remains doubtful even though he was declared fit before the tour began.

Louw is returning home as per the agreement with the Springboks after featuring off the bench for the entire Castle Lager Rugby Championship while Pollard is returning home for the birth of his second child.

Coach Johan Ackermann admitted he didn’t know when Pollard would return to the team as their tour ends the same week the Boks get back together and it is now likely that Pollard will only be back in December to play his second match for the Bulls since signing with them at the beginning of the season.

“I tried to stick to my word and my word was that he's only going to play one game. His wife is due on the 20th, around the 20th. So he wants to get back in time for that. There's obviously always a possibility that the baby can come earlier,” Ackermann said.

“So therefore he's going to be with his wife and his family. And then we don't know who's going to be available for the game against the Lions because the Springboks face Japan on that day. So we'll have to see who's available to play.”

Ackermann said that while Louw and Pollard would leave the squad, plans haven’t changed and the rest of the Boks are likely to feature against Connacht.

“Except for Handre, everything remains the same. If the plan is right, a few of them will get a break after the weekend. We have to trust the whole squad and we have to give the players a chance.

“So I don't think the result will change anything. We head to Glasgow on Saturday and one or two players are joining us there. If we have a crisis or injuries, then things will change our plan, but otherwise not.”

Ackermann admitted that Williams will head home and that Goosen was a concern as he had a setback in training. That could mean Willie le Roux lines up at fullback against Connacht and Keagan Johannes steps back into the flyhalf role.

“Devon hurt his hamstring and it looks like it's going to be really bad. He's probably going to fly back in the next day or so. Johan was unfortunate that he obviously joined us on tour and then on the second day of training he felt a little bit of a tweak again in his calf, so we will make a final decision tomorrow about his availability when we start training tomorrow (Monday).

“We're obviously on the route now, we just stopped half way now to Galway and then we will reassess his availability.”