DEFENCE COACH ACCEPTS BLAME FOR BULLS’ ERRORS
Pienaar admits to mistakes as side face tough Chiefs battle
BULLS defence coach Pine Pienaar has taken responsibility for some of the problems that have contributed to the team losing three of their opening four Super Rugby matches, against the Stormers‚ Cheetahs and the Blues.
The three losses have left the Pretoria team faced with a mountain to climb to refresh their campaign and it does not get any easier this weekend as they are up against the in-form Chiefs in Waikato.
In the previous match against the Blues, where they lost by 38-14‚ the Bulls missed as many as 24 tackles and Pienaar said they must improve against the Chiefs to have any chance of getting a favourable result.
“Last year, we played against Aussie sides‚ maybe that helped us a little bit – but I am not saying that they are not good enough‚” he said.
“I’m not happy with the defence, because to concede six tries in a match is unacceptable to me.
“We work behind the scenes and hopefully the boys will come to the party against the Chiefs on Saturday, but I take full responsibility because it is my area and I am not happy with it.
“In the first half against the Blues, we did very well but in the second half‚ especially in the last 17 minutes‚ they caught us and kept the ball very well.
“We conceded a few line breaks and that is one of the things we want to improve on during the Chiefs match.”
Pienaar said the players must minimise the individual errors that would be severely exposed and punished by some of the best players in the world who are featuring in the competition.
“Playing against some of the best players in the world‚ our players are always going to be under tremendous pressure if they leave space between their inside and outside defender, but that is something that we will work very hard on‚” he said.
“We know that we are playing again the best side currently in the competition. We want to work on the mistakes that we have created.
“We know it is going to be a tough one, but I believe that the players will be up for the battle.”
The Bulls have confirmed that prop John-Roy Jenkinson‚ who suffered a hamstring injury in the loss to the Blues in Albany on Saturday‚ will return to South Africa for further treatment.
He will be replaced by Conraad van Vuuren.
Jenkinson‚ who came on as a replacement in the second half‚ suffered a grade two hamstring tear that has ruled him out of the remainder of the overseas tour against the Chiefs and the Sunwolves in Japan.
Bulls team doctor Herman Rossouw also confirmed that No 8 Hanro Liebenberg would go through a late fitness test after sustaining a pectoral muscle injury.
“Hanro injured a pectoral muscle and we need to see how it is responding to treatment in the next day or two, before we can make a call on his continued involvement on the tour‚” Rossouw said.