Historic comeback offers inspiration
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke looked as far back as a decade for inspiration after his team squandered a chance to record their first win of the Super Rugby season. Having lost their opening fixture of the season at Loftus Versfeld to the Stormers, the Bulls failed again on Friday when replacement lock Grant Hattingh put a hand on the touchline in dotting down what would have been the winning try in their 17-13 defeat to the visiting Hurricanes.
The upshot is that the Bulls are 13th on the combined log and are only second from bottom of the South African conference by virtue of the losing bonus point against the Hurricanes, who look to be early season frontrunners after winning two games in SA for the first time since 2006.
But Ludeke pointed to 2005, when the Bulls had a nightmare start to the season and still made the semifinals.
“We’ve seen a lot of teams losing their first four or five games,” he said. “In 2005 we lost our first five games. It’s all about just getting back on the horse and getting that first win behind your back.”
Ludeke was also not interested in feeling sorry for himself or his team: “When you have two performances like that, I think the best thing to do is to keep quiet and fix it. We know the areas (that need work), there are no grey areas.
“We just need to improve. This week we were a bit better, but not good enough.”
Improvement will have to come quickly as the Bulls have a derby against the Sharks this weekend, which is already shaping up as a pivotal game for the Pretoria side.
“When you miss out you need to keep your focus. This week is a vital one,” he said. “You know how it works — you get that first win and suddenly things start working. But we are positive. Hopefully this week we can come out with an 80-minute effort. If you say it’s a must-win, you realise the importance of the game — and it’s at home.”
A big part of the 80-minute performance Ludeke is looking for has to be consistency in all facets of the game. Having appeared to be stuck in reverse for most of the game against the Stormers in their first game, the Bulls found new issues at the lineouts and the breakdown against the Hurricanes.
“I thought we needed some numbers; there were two or three opportunities at the breakdown and that’s why they (Hurricanes) targeted that area,” the coach said. “We need to look after ourselves at that breakdown area. On your own set-piece ball you need to have the ability to keep it at the breakdown. At the end of the day we can only fault ourselves.”
That said, Ludeke was encouraged by the performance of debutant teen Hanro Liebenberg, who played in his first Super Rugby match when he came on as a substitute for Deon Stegmann on Friday. Stegmann suffered blurred vision from blood in his eyes and could not finish the game.
“I thought he was outstanding,” Ludeke said about 19-year-old Liebenberg. “He forced a vital turnover and was really effective. I’m proud of him.”
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