The ‘walk off’ message Ruan Ackermann has for Gloucester fans ahead of his last run at Kingsholm
Ruan Ackermann in action for Gloucester in April 2024
Ruan Ackermann has revealed that he has known for quite some time that next Saturday will be his last appearance at Kingsholm following eight seasons at Gloucester.
The South African back-rower was a 2017 signing when his father Johan was head coach at the English Premiership outfit.
The club parted ways with his dad in 2020 but Ackermann went on to enjoy five more seasons with the Cherry and Whites, a relationship that will now end this weekend unless fifth-place Gloucester defeat Northampton and a result elsewhere in the matches featuring play-off rivals Sale and Bristol goes their way.
Ackermann was named on May 13 as one of 19 players who will exit George Skivington’s squad at the end of this season. The identity of his next club has not yet been confirmed but the 29-year-old explained that he had known for a long while that he would be leaving when the 2024/25 campaign was over.
“I’m getting to a stage now in my life where there was a feeling from the club and me that I feel I needed to go,” he said to BBC Radio Gloucestershire ahead of Gloucester’s final regular season Premiership match versus the Saints.
“It’s more the reality sank in the last two, three months when you say to them, ‘I probably need to move on’. The club has got their ambitions and mine has changed a bit because of how things are going, and (you have to) try to accept it.”
“Respect from the fans at Kingsholm…”
The veteran of more than 170 appearances for Gloucester also had a poignant message for the supporters.
“I always just wanted to get respect from the fans at Kingsholm. I feel they deserve a lot for the support they give,” he said.
“All I can always do is make them proud and hopefully on the weekend we can have one more game at home where I can walk off and say I’ve given everything to them.”
Looking ahead to the weekend, Gloucester boss Skivington added: “There is some pressure on this week to make sure we deliver what we can. We are not exactly where we want to be but we’re right on the edge.
“All we can do is rip into this week, which the boys have done, get as focused and as ready as we can and focus on beating Northampton. It’s a massive game for us, we have to win it – nothing outside that matters.”
