Brenden Nel - SuperSport

Johannesburg - The Bulls were dealt a setback when midfielder Jaco Pretorius was ruled out of their final tour match against the Western Force in Perth on Saturday.

Pretorius has been struggling with a neck strain for the past few weeks, and it caused him to miss last weekend's loss to the Reds with the injury.

While it was initially hoped he would be ready, the Bulls bracketed him with Stephan Dippenaar when naming the side yesterday and said he would have to pass a fitness test by Friday at the captain's practice.

However, the extent of the injury looks to be serious enough that he was withdrawn earlier, meaning an early end to his tour and another run at outside centre for Dippenaar.

The Bulls will be hoping the young midfielder's communication with his inside backs is a lot better than the Reds, where a first phase try was scored in his channel thanks to a miscommunication on defence.

Francois Brummer comes onto the bench in Dippenaar's place as the Bulls stick with their five-two bench, but Pretorius won't be returning home immediately, staying rather with the team to undergo rehabilitation with the Bulls medical team while they are in Perth.

Teams:

Western Force:
TBA

Bulls:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Stephan Dippenaar, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle , 1 Dean Greyling

Substitutes: 16 Gary Botha, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Derick Kuün, 21 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 22 Francois Brummer