‘We’ll regroup and we’ll rise again,’ vows Bulls’ Marcell Coetzee

Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee says the union will have to be better next season, after the Pretoria-based side bombed out of the Currie Cup in spectacular fashion on Saturday.

The Bulls lost 39-10 in the semi-finals to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein to end their season without any silverware or appearance in a final.

Jake White’s team also failed to reach the last-four in the United Rugby Championship and also crashed out of the Champions Cup in the round of 16.

But it wasn’t only the fact the Bulls lost to Hawies Fourie’s Cheetahs on Saturday, but the fact they were completely outplayed, and that with a team stacked with URC players.

‘Take it on the chin’

Coetzee gave credit to the Cheetahs, but admitted the Bulls had some soul-searching to do in the off-season.

“The Cheetahs controlled the game … their tactical kicking was good,” said the veteran loose forward.

“Playoff rugby is about momentum and rhythm, and maybe if we’d executed better it would have been a whole different game, especially when you play away from home you have to stay in it … you can’t have a big deficit at half time. We had opportunities (to score tries) and didn’t finish.

“We’ll take it on the chin. We failed as a team and union, but it’s only a failure if you stay there.

“We’ll take our learnings from this, we’ll rise again, regroup in the off-season. We’ll take a hard look at where we want to be. We’ll have to challenge ourselves because we have to be better to play for this union.”

‘Character’

Assistant coach Hugo van As, who helped coach the backs in the Currie Cup, gave credit to the players who he said fought hard after a poor start to their campaign. The Bulls were winless after four matches.

“It was a long season so credit to the players. I thought they showed a lot of character.

“After the start we made (to the campaign) we decided we wanted to finish well, do well and turn things around, and we did … we qualified for the semi-finals.

“It didn’t work out today. There were such small margins in the first half (in Bloemfontein) … we had a few chances, but the Cheetahs’ defence was excellent and our finishing was not where it could have been.”

The Cheetahs will now face the Pumas, who shocked the Sharks in Durban in their semi-final, in the final in Bloemfontein at 4pm Saturday.

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