Johan Ackermann ready to embrace a new era at the Bulls after Springbok exodus

The departures of Springboks Ruan Nortje, Wilco Louw and Kurt-Lee Arendse have left real gaps, but it also provides an opportunity for exciting new signings to step up.

"We've lost quality players," he says simply.

However, the new arrivals are not just replacements: they are a shift in identity. These include players like Thaakir Abrahams, Curwin Bosch, Hanro Liebenberg, Dylan Maart, and U20 world champion Luan Giliomee.

"They bring a different DNA, and we can play, I think, a little bit differently," he added.

"The more you change, the longer it takes you to settle into a squad. Talent is one thing, but it's that cohesion, and that spirit, that we must keep alive.

"I'm excited about the players coming in, but just as excited about the players we already have, our youngsters. I want them to realise they need to put pressure on the senior players. You want players to come through from within, and the only way that happens is if they put their hands up. Hopefully now, through Currie Cup rugby and by training with us, some of these young players will show us that in the future we can hand them the jersey rather than going outside the union to find it."

There is a version of this Bulls season that is simply about results. Ackermann is not interested in that version. He is interested in a team that trusts each other enough to survive the version of themselves that nearly missed the playoffs in January and still found their way to a final in May. They lost to a brilliant Leinster in Dublin.

Fitter this time. Better resourced this time. Still learning, by his own account, but no longer starting from zero.

"We are all still hurting," he admits of that final defeat, before adding the line that captures the whole season ahead.

"Sometimes you have to take something aside, to really see the good in things, and there were a lot of positives."

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