There is no I in the Bulls team
PLAYERS PLAY FOR EACH OTHER, BACK THE PLAN De Jager hopes they can make Loftus the fortress it once was.
It’s hard to believe after his stellar all-action display last weekend against the Sharks in Durban, but Bulls lock Lood de Jager says he still has to push himself in terms of mobility and fitness.
The Bulls will be looking for the same superb work-rate from the Springbok this weekend when they take on an attacking Melbourne Rebels side at Loftus Versfeld and De Jager said he will be working hard this week to ensure he can front up again.
“The physicality part of the game comes naturally to me, but mobility and fitness are things I have to work hard on, I’m trying to develop my work-rate and become more mobile. The important thing is that we play for each other, every team has five or six stars, but at the end of the day it’s about which team plays the most for each other and backs the plan. There can be no egos.
“The Hurricanes showed that last weekend, they have no All Blacks in their pack but they won easily against the Chiefs. The coach [John Mitchell] plays a massive part in that, he gives us freedom and allows us to express ourselves,” De Jager said.
The Bulls defence was one of the standout factors of the win at Kings Park last weekend, with De Jager leading the way with an astonishing 17 tackles, but the 25-year-old says the line will have to be just as impervious against the Rebels on Saturday.
“The Rebels have a very good attack, they’ve scored the second-most tries in the competition and they’ve recorded some great victories this season. So we are going to have to be very sharp in defence. It’s a massive boost playing at home and we definitely want to make Loftus Versfeld a fortress again and win all our games there now,” De Jager said.
The knee injury suffered by eighthman Hanro Liebenberg that will see him miss at least the next six to eight weeks of rugby means Mitchell will have to make at least one change to the starting line-up.
Questions over the current match-fitness of Tim Agaba, Nic de Jager and Jano Venter means Shaun Adendorff might get the call-up, only adding to the mobility and ball-hunting ability of the loose trio.