Super Rugby: Nollis Marais lambasts his tame Bulls

Like Incy Wincy Spider repeatedly climbing up the spout and getting washed out again, Bulls coach Nollis Marais has more often than not found himself uttering the words: “We know it was an unacceptable performance this season.”

Marais was at it again this weekend after the Bulls crashed to a 31-30 defeat at the hands of the Southern Kings at Loftus Versfeld.

Also read: Super Rugby: Kings show us what we’ll be missing

“We knew it would be tough because the Kings have a point to prove, but it was not good enough obviously. We know it was unacceptable and we can’t just take the loss and say we’ll move on to the next game. Personally I take it very hard, but it’s not about me, it’s disappointing for the fans as well,” Marais said.

The Bulls coach singled out a lax defensive line and poor receipt of kickoffs, especially the fateful one in the last minute after Jaco Visagie had scored to give them a 30-28 lead, as the major reasons the Kings were able to put regular dents in their defence.

“The handling of the kickoffs wasn’t good the whole game, we need to win those and handle them better. Of course if Jannes Kirsten actually touched the last one is another question. And we were nowhere in defence, coming off the line was not good and we allowed them to control contact,” Marais said.

The Bulls were loose and error-strewn in the first half, trailing 10-22 at the break, but they came back strongly.

“In the position we are, the guys will play expansive rugby, but we just need to be more controlled, otherwise turnovers will come. It’s fun to play attacking rugby, but then we started forcing offloads,” the embattled coach complained.

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