Bulls urged to keep feet on ground
Coach Mitchell happy with start to season
AFTER stunning the Hurricanes to start their season on a winning note on Saturday‚ Bulls coach John Mitchell has urged his players to keep their feet on the ground and go on working hard. The Bulls scored a try in the last 10 minutes of their Super Rugby match at Loftus with a man down following Pierre Schoeman’s yellow card to win narrowly 21-19.
Lock RG Snyman was named man of the match.
“There is no doubt that we are going to have our bad days and fall short of our targets in future‚ which is the nature of the trade‚ but we have to put our feet on the ground‚ get back to work and continue learning and getting better‚” Mitchell said after the match.
“We got through some untidy periods but we were fortunate to get out of them‚ especially just after half time, where we conceded a try and spent too much time in our own half.
“The game is always going to be full of mistakes – it is how you respond and get yourself out of those situations.”
Mitchell said he was impressed by the positive mindset of his players, as on occasions the Hurricanes had put them under pressure.
“The biggest leap from last year was definitely the mindset of the players.
“This victory is a foundation to understand that what we have been doing during preseason is the right way to go.
“We lasted longer than the Hurricanes and that was also important. Scoring the try with a man down was a big moment for us and the players did very well in that period.”
On Saturday‚ the Bulls take on the Lions at Loftus and Mitchell expects a tough match from last season’s losing finalists.
“I guess what is exciting for us is that we have our neighbours [the Lions] next week – they are an outstanding side.
“They are one of the two sides, with the Crusaders, who put away the Hurricanes last year.
“The Lions had to endure a lot last year against the Hurricanes to get to the final.
“We have respect for them because they are a good team and most teams create opportunities.”
The Bulls started their campaign without Springbok fullback Warrick Gelant and they are likely to host the Lions without him if he does not recover in time from his knee injury.
“He will possibly be available for us next week, but we are not going to risk him if he is not right.
“He is the type of guy who will let you know if he is going to be 100% and a decision will be taken later in the week after we have spoken to him and the medical team‚” he said.
Meanwhile, Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd praised the Bulls while delivering a damning assessment of his team’s performance.
“I don’t think anybody would be proud of their performance‚” he said.
“Collectively, it was well short of what we expect from each other.”
Asked whether 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 TJ 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‚” he said matter-offactly.
The Bulls’ improved fitness and the thin Highveld air conspired against the tourists, who arrived two days earlier than usual.
“[It was] frustrating‚” he said. – TimesLIVE, additional reporting by Liam del Carme