Bulls in close match against Hurricanes
HURRICANES coach Chris Boyd praised the Bulls while delivering a damning assessment of his team’s performance following their 21-19 defeat at Loftus on Saturday.
“I don’t think anybody would be proud of their performance‚” Boyd said.
“Collectively it was well short of what we expect from each other.”
Asked if he drew any positives from the game Boyd said: “Uhhh‚ probably none.”
The result‚ however‚ might have been different had the match officials not disallowed what looked like a legitimate try for scrumhalf T J Perenara in the second half.
Boyd was having none of it. “You could probably pick out 20 similar tries or no tries and you’d get 10 awarded and 10 not. It’s one of those. That is not the reason we lost the game.
“If the try was awarded we may have won the game but at the end of the day‚ frankly‚ we didn’t deserve to win‚” said Boyd.
What disappointed the coach was that the Bulls finished stronger despite the investment in time‚ effort and money the Hurricanes made in the build-up to the clash.
The Bulls’ improved fitness and the thin Highveld air conspired against the tourists, who travelled to South Africa two days earlier than usual.
“It is a game we prepared well for. We need to look back at that preparation because it delivered just about zero,” he said.
“I don’t mind losing but to play so poorly was incredibly frustrating.
“Since losing in that semifinal against the Lions last year we’ve been trying to work out scientifically and a game point of view to get an improved performance up here. We delivered little.”
The Bulls’ much talked about less direct change in playing style didn’t influence how the Hurricanes set about their task.
“It doesn’t really matter how they changed the subtleties around their game‚” he said.
“They certainly played differently than what they did last time.
“What you know is that you are probably going to battle physically‚ that they are going to come at you physically, and you have to stay in that contest for long periods of time, otherwise it will become a long day at the office.
“That is exactly what happened to us. We didn’t control tempo‚ we didn’t control territory or momentum. We lost control of the game really and ultimately paid for it.”
“Credit to the Bulls. They had a plan.
The travel burden doesn’t ease up on the Hurricanes, whose east to west around the world odyssey continues with a trip to Buenos Aires for a meeting with the Jaguares next weekend.
They then fly home for a meeting with the Crusaders before enjoying a much needed bye a week later.
“We knew what the task was‚” said Boyd. “We failed the first leg of that task.
“Next week is a pretty key game for us‚ as it is for the Jaguares.”