‘Bulls players are hurting, but confidence still there ahead of Scarlets clash’

Experience is not something you can pick up at a sale, but senior Bulls player Nizaam Carr believes the team will be the better for their chastening experiences lately on the road.

The Bulls take on the Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship in Llanelli on Friday night, which will be their sixth away game in the last seven weeks. Beating the Dragons 29-14 on January 6 has been their only success on tour in that period.

European weather

“Unfortunately results haven’t gone our way and we have taken a hard look at ourselves,” Carr admitted. “But it’s the worst weather in Europe at this time of year and it’s tough on any team travelling up here.

“Also more than 80% of the players have not played on 4G pitches before, which are different, and then the snow came down as well in our last game in Lyon. So the conditions are new for a lot of the boys.

Read more: Player welfare key as Bulls change 8 for Lyon Champs Cup clash

“But the more experienced we get, the more we learn and things won’t be as unpredictable for us, and the better we will become. Last week’s loss was a difficult hurdle to overcome, but we are still excited and looking forward to the Scarlets game.

“We still carry a lot of confidence and we said to each other that that one performance in Lyon does not define us as a group,” Carr said.

Comforts of flats

The loose forward, who captained the side in the 31-7 Champions Cup loss to Olympique Lyon, also admitted that some of the squad may be missing the comforts of their flats and homes back in Pretoria.

Read more: Physicality the property Bulls most proud of, smashed up front by Lyon

“We talked about not doing well away from home. I can’t speak on behalf of previous Bulls sides, but we are addressing it,” Carr said.

“But the camaraderie is really tight on and off the field. It is tough touring and you need to start games well. It is a little bit different at Loftus, but our preparation and plan is exactly the same on tour.

“We don’t do anything different. Maybe some of the guys are missing their own beds. But it will turn around for us as long as we don’t go away from what we do best.

“This has been a little rough patch for the last few weeks, but then you look at how we have grown over the last few years. We’re hurting, but this is too small a setback to kill our character and confidence,” Carr assured.