Bulls: No excuses, but when the dam wall breaks…
Backs coach Chris Rossouw believes the men from Loftus have put the past weekend's hammering already behind them.
Chris Rossouw (Maties) during the 2013 Varsity Cup National Launch from Serengeti Wildlife and Golf Estate Clubhouse on January 21, 2013 in Kempton Park, South Africa Photo by Lee Warren / Gallo Images
Backline and attack coach Chris Rossouw admitted that the Bulls’ play in general was not up to standard in their shock hammering at the hands of the Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, but he did draw some positives from the times they did manage to hold on to the ball.
The Bulls scored two tries in the final quarter but by then they were well-beaten, succumbing to a humiliating 56-20 defeat at their home fortress. They now face the prospect of taking on the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
“We are bitterly disappointed because obviously we just didn’t perform on the day. We were flat and there are no excuses. Maybe we struggled a bit just to get into things after the bye, but we had a great training week. But you can take 50 on any day from any team in this competition, the dam wall breaks and you just can’t stop it.
“All areas of our game were not up to standard but you can have days like that, but now we need to really focus on the Sharks, who are coming off a very good win. We’re focused on our processes and what we need to change, and whenever there’s a South African derby the guys are up for it.
“If there’s any dent to the confidence then we need to quickly restore that.
“We actually attacked very well against the Chiefs’ slide-defence, we got yards but we just couldn’t convert. We created opportunities and somewhere it will click and then we will get big points. The Sharks have one of the best defensive systems though, so that is going to be a challenge at Kings Park, conditions are not ideal for attack because the ball is very slippery,” Rossouw said at Loftus Versfeld.
The knowledge that from being top of the South African Conference, the Bulls are now languishing in fourth place should be enough to ensure that they take the field in Durban with all guns blazing.
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