How hat-trick hero Gelant upped his game
It took a simple change of mindset and back-to-basics discussions with Bulls coach John Mitchell to turn Warrick Gelant’s Super Rugby season around.
A knee injury delayed the Bulls fullback’s start to the season and the meetings with Mitchell helped him eliminate deficiencies that were affecting his game.
He is one of the favourites to start for the Springboks in the June Tests against Wales and England. During the Bulls 40-10 demolition of the Sharks in Durban last weekend‚ Gelant impressed in the defence.
He was excellent in positional play‚ looked assured with both feet and topped his shift off with a hat-trick of tries in difficult, wet conditions.
“Because we are so process driven here at the Bulls‚ I wanted to be perfect and the more I wanted to be perfect, the more things went wrong‚” Gelant said when asked to assess his slow start to the season.
“I knew what I could do to contribute to the team, but things were just not happening and the coach knew it.
“It was a battle for me to come through and make my presence felt in the team but it’s an ongoing process.
“We took a step back‚ relaxed a little bit‚ focused more on the basics and fortunately I found myself in the right time and the right place against the Sharks last weekend,” Gelant said.
“It was great to score tries because they boosted my confidence‚” he said‚ adding that returning to the Boks is not a priority at the moment.
“I have been struggling with form. It is just great to be back and helping the team. National call-ups and stuff like that will sort themselves out.”
The Bulls’ impressive win over the Sharks has seen them move to second place on the South African log standing.
“We are in the building phase‚” Gelant said. “We have standards that we have set ourselves and we want to match them every weekend.
“It is not about us wanting to win the championship in one or two years’ time‚ it is for us to get better every day and every match‚” he said.
“This weekend we are up against the Rebels, who are sixth on the log, but it is a challenge that excites us to compete against top teams.”