Pote Human (Head Coach) of the Vodacom Bulls during the Super Rugby match between Cell C Sharks and Vodacom Bulls at Jonsson Kings Park on March 30, 2019 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images)
The Bulls have struggled in recent years to win away from home, but coach Pote Human, above, now seems to have to deal with a new problem – their increasingly poor form at home after they were shocked 22-20 by the Jaguares at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, their second successive Super Rugby loss in Pretoria.
While their performance was flat and dismal when they were beaten 56-20 by the Chiefs, against the Jaguares they totally dominated proceedings but wasted numerous opportunities to seal the win and then suffered a complete breakdown in composure and discipline in the final quarter as the visitors came back from 20-10 down to claim their first win at Loftus.
“We were still in it until the last 10 minutes but two yellow cards cost us and it’s tough to swallow. It’s very disappointing, I really thought we had it in the bag. They had one opportunity in the first half and they scored, while we had so many right through the match that we did not use. And then they only had to play against 13 men at the end, which was just due to the stupidity of the players.
“It’s a huge setback for us and we need to look at our discipline because that was a big issue today. We spoke in the week about making sure we were up against overseas opposition, so this result is a big disappointment. The guys just had white-line fever – they’d be two metres from the line and drop the ball, and there were funny kicks inside the 22. You have to use your opportunities and we didn’t,” Human said after the loss.
The yellow cards to replacement flank Tim Agaba, for an illegal cleanout attempt at a ruck in the 72nd minute, and substitute prop Conrad van Vuuren, for up-ending the Jaguares player who had jumped up to catch the restart, scuppered the Bulls’ chances just as effectively as Kagiso Rabada is able to york batsmen with his fast-bowling.
But the Jaguares should earlier have been reduced to 14 men when a blatantly deliberate knock-on, which probably prevented a try being scored to stretch the lead to 25-10, was only punished by a penalty.
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