Cape Town - Bulls captain Lood de Jager has been ruled out for at least two weeks with a shoulder injury he picked up against the Jaguares this past weekend.
It means that he will miss Saturday's clash against the Lions at Ellis Park as well as a home fixture at Loftus against the Sharks the following weekend.
Handre Pollard will captain the Bulls in De Jager's absence.
The 26-year-old was superb in his side's commanding 40-3 win over the Stormers in Pretoria in the opening round of fixtures and is keen to make a strong play towards selection in Rassie Erasmus's World Cup squad later in the year.
The Bulls went on to lose 27-12 to the Jaguares in a wet Buenos Aires, leaving them with a win and a loss so far in 2019.
Saturday's derby against the Lions kicks off at 15:05.