Coach wants his men to have fun
ATTENTION TO DETAIL WILL DRIVE SUCCESS He’ll leave nothing to chance as he aims to make Bulls a force.
Judging by the Super Rugby squad Bulls coach John Mitchell announced yesterday, the former All Blacks mentor could field a backline with four Springboks in it for this year’s campaign.
Warrick Gelant was named with the outside backs by Mitchell and should be the Bulls’ firstchoice fullback, while Jesse Kriel was included among the midfielders in an early sign that the 23-year-old will start Super Rugby in the No 13 jersey, in which he finished the Springbok campaign last year.
Jamba Ulengo is sure to start on the wing, with much expected from Handre Pollard at flyhalf as he looks to engineer the sort of expansive, mobile game-plan Mitchell has been preaching since his arrival at Loftus Versfeld.
There are four other Springboks in the 38-man squad with lock Lood de Jager, prop Trevor Nyakane, hooker Adriaan Strauss and flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff all named yesterday.
Mitchell said sticking to processes and attention to detail will be the turbines that will drive the success the Bulls so desperately need to bring back to Pretoria.
“I don’t want to make any promises on how the team will perform this year, we will be solely focused on the process. It’s about marginal gains for us, stacking good stuff on good stuff daily, as we continue to ensure excellence. It’s not about the end but rather the daily effort combined at the end. Our purpose is to fill Loftus and put smiles on people’s faces.
“I am confident we have worked smartly and laid a solid foundation. This squad will develop and improve, and one needs to be realistic, but we are all in agreement about the way forward. One of our main focus areas will be to remain honest and never forget to enjoy it and have fun. We want to serve our fans, supporters, shareholders and sponsors – we want to earn back their respect and get the Bulls to bind us together as one,” Mitchell said.