Bulls putting in ‘hard yards now to reap rewards later,’ says Coetzee

Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee has taken the advice of his own father and drummed it into his teammates during an intense United Rugby Championship pre-season for the Pretoria team.

The Bulls open their new season against the Lions at Ellis Park this Saturday, and Coetzee says they’re more determined than ever to build on what they achieved in the inaugural edition of this competition. They showed immense character to claw their way back from second last on the log to beating a Leinster team loaded with Ireland Test players in Dublin in the semi-final, and then falling narrowly short of silverware in losing the final 18-13 to the Stormers in Cape Town.

‘Boys became men’

“Growing up, my dad always told me, ‘You get out what you put in’. During our pre-season I told the boys every day, ‘You know, we were just five points short in the final against the Stormers. So let’s put in the hard yards now. Let’s bleed and do all the grinding now, and then the rewards will come,” said Coetzee.

“I was so impressed by the character of this team in the first season of the United Rugby Championship. We were always in the fight and ready to do the impossible when it came to beating Leinster away.

“We saw boys became men and we can use that experience going into this new season. We’ll have to adapt with new strategies because the Northern Hemisphere teams know how we play now, and we know how they play. But the boys are all ready to go.”

‘Busy campaign’

Both Cornal Hendricks and Morné Steyn have echoed the thoughts of their skipper.

“The guys have put in the hard work in the pre-season and we’re looking forward to growing even more as a team,” said Hendricks.

“It’s going to be a busy campaign with the Champions Cup as well, but we’re ready for it after a good pre-season,” added Steyn.