A season rescued, and a home quarterfinal. From where Johan Ackermann sat a few months ago, the turnaround has not only been significant, but it has been exceptional.
And yet, the Vodacom Bulls are still not the finished article. They need work, and ahead of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoffs that lesson is loud and clear.
Over the past two weeks the Bulls have scored impressive wins over Zebre and Benetton, with the scorelines looking good, but underneath the surface there have been moments that have worried Ackermann.
Soft moments that could be crucial in tight playoff games. To say on Saturday, while they dominated play against Benetton, that the Bulls were at times their own worst enemies would be an understatement.
A try just before halftime for Rhyno Smith - which came from an audacious chip and chase from their own 22 by veterans Handre Pollard and Willie le Roux, cost seven points. A similar foray early in the second half was the same.
It took a comfortable 26-7 scoreline to 26-19 and while the Bulls rallied to win comfortably in the end, the message from Ackermann ahead of the playoffs is clear: Tighten up, or it may be fatal.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Ackermann said.
“There were soft moments and small mistakes that compounded pressure on ourselves. Those are the things we have to fix.
“It’s our general skill, finishing and decision-making that we have to focus on. You don’t want to give away 14 points through soft moments and poor decision-making.”
There is no doubt that Ackermann was referring to the tries before and after halftime.
“That’s the part we have to fix because if there’s more pressure on the game, like in a knockout match, it becomes very difficult to recover momentum. Neil (de Bruin) and I want the players to have a go, and we’ll never fault a player for trying, but you must make sure you execute. It’s all about execution.
“There were moments where we had four against two, or three against one, and then we kicked instead of passing. Then there were other situations where maybe we should have kicked. Those decisions and the execution around them are the areas we need to improve.”
Munster will bring a very different challenge to the Loftus Versfeld quarterfinal, with the Bulls winning the recent league game 34-31 in a tense encounter that saw some exceptional tries from the home side.