The Vodacom Bulls were understandably happy with back to back fifty point wins at their Loftus Versfeld base in the Pretoria heat over the past few weeks, but coach Johan Ackermann wants sides to work a lot harder when they come to Pretoria.
While it would be strange to grumble about a fortnight of fifty pointers, on both occasions the Bulls will probably feel they could have scored more, and left a lot of points on the park. Their pace, coupled with power, needs precision, and at the moment it is sometimes hit and miss.
Ackermann praised the side as they opened their Investec Champions Cup campaign with a late surge to make the scoreline look good, but knows they probably could have scored 80 if they were a lot more clinical.
“I'm proud of the guys. First of all, to get the win is the most important. We got that and like they say, the bonus point is in the bag as well,” Ackermann said.
“But it was a fight. It wasn't that easy, probably as the scorelines show. We probably made it a little bit difficult for ourselves with penalties conceded in the first half and errors and not executing that well.
BETTER EXECUTION
“And then in the second half, there was obviously better execution. Still missed a few opportunities, but they showed a lot of character. They managed to hang in the fight, but obviously the conditions were tough out there. And any win is a good win, so it puts us obviously in a good place to get the win. So, just proud of the fight of the players.”
Ackermann pronounced himself satisfied with the two debutants on the day - former Pumas midfielder Sango Xamlashe and SA under-20 star Luan Giliomee - both of whom had solid debuts for the side. Ackermann also pointed to returning star Sebastian de Klerk, who they want to give extra game time to get him over a long-term injury.
“At the moment it's a tough place to be a coach because we've got heavy competition in the squad, and somehow we have to balance the squad and the team with a bit of cohesion but also trusting other players instead of playing some players a lot.
“And then there's Sebastian, who's been out for the game for quite a while. It's early in the season. We want to give him a lot of game time so that he can get back in. I said to Sebastian, obviously he had a great game in my view, there is a lot of hard work. So, coming back to your question, Sango showed us a good side and he joined us in the training.
DEBUTANTS DID WELL
“We just felt maybe it's a good time to rotate Stedman (Gans). I think he justified the selection. He played well. I was very happy with his game, especially defensively. And then Luan, again, same thing. He was playing well for the Sharks, slotted in well, did his homework.
“We could see he's comfortable with the plays. He was quite steady, nothing flashy, good performance. I spoke to him now in the changing room. He had a late-in-the-game opportunity that he missed. I think he should have kicked it for himself over the line. They were so tired and there was a turnover ball.
“But, yeah, happy with our selection, even the front row. We pushed them for a long time because they haven't played a lot of rugby the last couple of weeks. Jan-Hendrik, Alulutho, Khutha played really well. So, I am very happy with the guys who got the opportunity.”
Ackermann did admit he was frustrated with the amount of missed chances the Bulls fluffed.
“No, we were quite frustrated up in the coach's box because, obviously, great that we started well, but then we went into a block of time where we just made it easy for them. Either we gave away a penalty or we would knock the ball on in less than two phases and then they get the scrum and then they slow it down or they get an easy entry into our half. So, I think it was around 34, 35 minutes.
SIDES NEED TO WORK HARDER AT LOFTUS
“The stats say they had a 62 per cent ball and they only made 22 tackles, yet we were leading on the scoreboard. So, it didn't feel that way, but it's definitely a work-on for us if teams come here to make them work a bit harder.
“We scored those tries when we needed to, to make sure that we're not chasing the game. But probably our defence was still good enough, even though we considered that we didn't allow them until later in the game when they got their first try. So, it probably boiled down to our fight and our determination to keep them out.”
Overall the coach was well-satisfied with the result and everything the Bulls got out of it.
“It's always easy to reflect after a game when the result goes your way of your changes that you make because it's something you always question. First of all, selection, if you get it right, if it goes well, because if it doesn't, you will say, I should have made that change or what? Then in the second half, when you put that replacement on, there was a bit of purpose today.
“How we wanted to push certain guys for a long time because of minutes and then there was also a time that we felt somebody had to come off, you know, for where he is in his minutes and Harold was one of them.
“He's been ill for quite a fair bit and then he started to play and last week we had to push him for 80 minutes. So, I'm not a GPS man, I believe you have to follow your gut, but the stats showed that there was quite a big spike for him and that's why we had to manage him during the weekend.
POLLARD COVERED 12
“And then we felt that on that certain mark, you know, it's time for him. We were confident, Sebastian would know that there's a couple of guys that we get to cover some positions in the week and Polly (Handre Pollard) already knew he had to cover 12, so it was a big change. Willie had to cover 10 if Pollard had to come off, so he was comfortable.
“So, that gave us that great opportunity to look at that combination as well for the future. And then we wanted to give Luan as much game time as possible, so it's great that he stayed on because he's settling into the team. So, again, it's just a blessing and we're grateful that we could have stuck with our plan.”
The Bulls have another early Saturday fixture this week as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship resumes when they face Irish side Ulster at Loftus.