It’s not all doom and gloom for the Bulls, insists McFarland
PRETORIA: Former Springbok and Bulls defence guru John McFarland knows what it takes to win the Super Rugby trophy.
After all, McFarland was at the heart of the Bulls’ watertight defence that saw them crowned Super Rugby champions three times.
He was also involved with the Springboks in their World Cup semi-final exit in England two years ago.
Even though the Bulls lost their opening game to the Stormers last weekend, McFarland believes there were enough glimpses of the team’s ability to go far in the competition.
The men in blue were praised for their character in their second-half performance.
“You’ve got to recognise that the Stormers played so well in the first 24 minutes that any team would have crumbled under that pressure,” said McFarland.
“What was encouraging is the spirit the Bulls showed, the way they fought and kept themselves in the game. And actually outscore the Stormers in the second half.
“So there were positives and the Bulls need to play with the same kind of intensity this week in Bloemfontein.”
The Cheetahs may have lost their opening game against the Lions in the dying moments, but they showed in previous seasons and in last year’s Currie Cup triumph that they can play with the same speed the Stormers displayed last Saturday.
McFarland has thrown down the gauntlet to the Bulls senior players such as Trevor Nyakane, Jacques Potgieter, Rudy Paige, Jan Serfontein and Jesse Kriel, and their ability to take control of proceedings in not only bringing about calmness but in giving direction to the team to slow down the game while enforcing their plan on the opposition.
“The senior players need to make sure they are a calming influence on the juniors.
“You need to slow the ball down and get set. The problem against the Stormers was that they kept the ball alive so well, the Bulls couldn’t get set and that led to the problems they encountered in the first half,” McFarland said.
Unlike last year when it was the Lions who led South Africa’s sole charge in the competition, McFarland has been impressed with what he saw from the Stormers, Bulls and Lions in the first weekend of the competition.
He said all the teams are showing signs of playing with ball in hand and exploiting the new tackle laws that seek to prevent high and dangerous tackles.
“You can see because of the new tackle law there is real intent to attack and play with ball in hand,” McFarland said.
“There is a lot more offloads than you would normally see and there was very little kicks in that Stormers-Bulls game which is really encouraging.”