Having fought their way out of the biggest hole they have been in, Vodacom Bulls coach Johan Ackermann will now look for some consistency as his side face the Lions in the second leg of the Jukskei derby this coming weekend at Ellis Park.
There is no doubt that while things didn’t go the Bulls way since Ackermann took over, the one result that really hurt them in the seven-game losing streak was the home loss against the Lions.
From a disjointed selection policy to players playing well below par, a dodgy defence system and conceding points early the Bulls were always on the back foot and needed more than just guts to get them home.
The loss at Loftus also particularly hurt them given Ackermann’s history with the Lions and the fact his former strength and conditioning coach Ivan van Rooyen is coaching the Lions at the moment as well.
LOFTUS LOSS HIT HARD
While the Champions’ Cup losses were understandable against top quality sides, and overseas games are always a gamble, that loss was a massive one in terms of the Bulls’ belief and their momentum they needed to forge their path in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
The result meant the Lions surged ahead of them on the log and while inconsistency doesn’t seem to be apparent to both the Joburg side’s owners, it was a massive headache for the Pretoria side, who expected better of last season’s finalists.
Since then the Bulls have stopped the seven-game losing streak and fought their way to two gritty, ugly wins in Pau and Edinburgh, and feel they have turned the tide a bit, but with the season taking a break for the Six Nations from next week, the second leg of this derby will be a massive one for the Bulls.
While they still need to find out the extent of injuries to winger Cheswill Jooste and Sebastian de Klerk, the Bulls should be buoyed by a number of players returning - and all of them Springboks that can make a difference.
STALWARTS SET TO RETURN
Cobus Wiese returned home early for the birth of his child and should be ready to play again while Canan Moodie was out with concussion and never played on the two-match overseas tour. With Jooste and De Klerk doubtful, he will definitely come back into the reckoning again.
Elrigh Louw should also be back in action for the Bulls after returning home with a buttocks muscle injury that the Bulls are hoping would have healed by this week. Unfortunately it seems that Cameron Hanekom, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Jan Serfontein all will only return for the next derby against the Sharks at Loftus on 28 February.
Gerhard Steenekamp is still recovering from an operation on a broken thumb that took place a few weeks ago and it isn’t clear if he will be considered for the game as well. At loosehead the Bulls do have Jan-Hendrik Wessels that they can use alongside Alulutho Tshakweni if Steenekamp is given more time to rest.
Akker van der Merwe also returned home with neck spasms, but the prognosis before the weekend was very positive on his recovery and he may well be considered as well. The Bulls have bracketed flanker Marco van Staden in recent weeks on the bench as a hooker, but have kept either Wessels or Johan Grobbelaar on for longer to try and negate the need to use Van Staden there. Grobbelaar was the man of the match on Friday night.
LOOKING FOR CONSISTENCY
Ackermann said afterwards the Bulls will be seriously looking for more consistency, especially when they get into the strike zone. The Bulls created a number of opportunities in the second half but didn’t finish them, something that has been an issue all season.
“We all strive for that perfect game where you finish every 22m entry, so that is a big work-on,” Ackermann said.
“I think the first positive is that we made Edinburgh work hard in that first half.
"Even though we made some silly errors and gave them opportunities, we really made them work. And then in the second half, we got what we needed.
"It was early points just to get back in the game. We missed a fair bit of opportunities — we had a few penalties, line-out mauls and scrums — but the composure was probably the big thing.
“We played in an area where we could have controlled the game and, when it counted, we got the points that we needed. But in the future, starting this week against the Lions, we have to be more clinical.”
“You seldom will have all the momentum or control the game for 80 minutes. But we can’t have those fluctuations, those massive highs and massive lows. It will help if we can get more consistency in our 80 minutes overall and drop our error rate.”
BREAKDOWN CHANGE WORKED
Ackermann praised the players for the way they changed tack in the second half after struggling to secure good ball in the first half.
“They’re tough at the breakdown. They contest every breakdown, so we had to clean that up and make sure we got our ball because they obviously slow your ball down. Everything that we spoke about, the players really executed in the second half.
“Credit to the players. We spoke about it earlier – there was no panic. There was a massive belief that we could turn it around.”
And now that the Lions await, Ackermann knows the value of an away win, and the momentum it would give the players going into the break. And he also knows what a loss would mean.
“We must just go in and embrace the challenge," Ackermann said.
"They were very good when they beat us at Loftus. It’s a massive challenge for us to now go to Ellis Park and see if we can get a result. We have to recover from our trip and make sure we are refreshed for what will be a highly physical battle.”