Coetzee: Bulls must learn from Dublin errors against Lyon
AFTER a six-game winning streak, the Bulls came back to earth with a thump against Leinster in Dublin last week.
But co-captain Marcell Coetzee has urged his team to put that 47-14 defeat behind them if they hope to beat Lyon in tomorrow’s Champions Cup last-16 play-off at Loftus Versfeld (1.30pm kick-off).
The Pretoria side actua -lly made a strong start at the RDS Arena last Friday, particularly in the scrums, and led 14-12 at half-time.
But it all went pear-shaped in the second half as the experience off the bench saw the Irish province score a few quick tries to end the match as a contest.
So, the Bulls have been sufficiently warned that they can’t afford to switch off after half-time against Lyon.
“The whole week’s preparation going into Lyon is to learn from your mistakes, what you didn’t do in the second half (against Leinster) particularly. Look at yourself and get yourself up. That was the leadership’s task this week, to get the boys up. This is not going to be an easy game. We don’t have time to sit and be sad,” Coetzee said yesterday.
But there is no doubt that the Bulls are a far superior team at their Loftus home, where the familiar conditions and atmosphere sees them playing a free-flowing, attacking style of rugby.
However, tomorrow’s clash is a knockout game, and Coetzee admitted that the Bulls may be a bit more conservative as a result.
But when you’ve got strike-runners and playmakers such as Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Willie le Roux and Embrose Papier in your backline, you can’t go totally into your shell.
The Bulls also have the forwards to secure enough possession up front, where the likes of Gerhard Steenekamp and Wilco Louw can dominate in the scrums, and locks Ruan Vermaak and co-captain Ruan Nortjé can control the line-outs.
Lyon clinched a 29-28 win in their previous encounter in France in December, where a young Bulls outfit led by Coetzee almost produced a memorable victory.
“When we have to go slower, we can – and when we need to spread the ball quickly, with the dangerous players that we have in Kurt-Lee and Willie, Canan, Devon Williams, all those players … you must be able to use them,” Coetzee said.