Bulls’ home comforts

Ken Borland

The comforts of home produced the right mindset in the Bulls according to captain Adriaan Strauss (left) as they ended their losing streak with a hard-fought 2613 win over the Jaguares at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend.

“We’ve got the belief in ourselves, we always knew we were capable of playing better rugby. The mindset was definitely better, previously we have got into a bit of a spiral, but we were able to enjoy the moment more, you could feel the confidence and energy levels were much higher.

“The Jaguares are a quality side so it was always going to be tough. But we knew if we could stick at it for the first 60 minutes then hopefully it would open up in the last 20 and we really put pressure on them. The maul worked well, we took the three points when they were on offer. We can still convert our chances better, but we had to grind it out,” Strauss said after the Bulls’ second win in seven games.

Coach Nollis Marais said he could sense the difference in his team being back in Pretoria after a calamitous tour.

“The tour was tough, it was a bit of a nightmare, you never think you’re going to lose all three games, so this was an important win for the belief and so we can get some energy going. The guys have been looking forward to playing at home, and when I walked out of the changeroom before the game, I could feel the energy levels were good.

“Jesse Kriel said ‘Don’t worry coach, we’ve got this one’, and the intensity was there. It was nice that the guys could come out and express themselves, and the intent was there in their play. We wanted to play at least, the scrum was good and we set the defence quite quickly, that picked up, so I’m very pleased,” Marais said.