Loftus bloodbath difficult pill to swallow, EP’s Velleman says
The bloodbath EP endured when they were massacred 87-10 by the Bulls at Loftus on Sunday was a bitter pill to swallow, Elephants loose forward CJ Velleman said.
In their opening game in the Preparation Series, EP leaked 12 tries against a rampant Bulls side which smelt blood from the opening whistle.
It was a baptism of fire for the untested EP team who struggled to hold the Bulls at bay at altitude.
Once the Bulls got into their stride, it was one-way traffic against an EP team which ran out of steam.
“This was a very bitter pill to swallow and we really expected a lot more of ourselves,” Velleman said.
“EP are disappointed in ourselves, to be honest.
“We were completely outperformed, but at the same it was the first time out on the park for these lads in about a year, so we cannot be too hard on ourselves.
“Now we will have to go back and see where the basic mistakes were.
“A lot of them were effort mistakes and that is not good enough.
“That is something the team will have to work on.
“This was our first run as a team and it was the first time we were put under pressure.
“It showed against the Bulls.
“Now we must go back to the training pitch and there is a lot of work to be done.”
EP are next in action against the Lions at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on March 10.
“The Bulls have an extremely good setup, but that is not to say the Lions will be anything different from what we faced at Loftus.
“The Lions have just as good a set up as the Bulls.
“EP will have to be a lot more prepared and take it head on.”
Bulls skipper Nizaam Carr said the big win over EP had laid a good platform for his team for the rest of the series.
“I was obviously very proud of the boys after that display,” he said.
“We could not have asked for a better start to the Preparation Series.
“The coaches asked for effort and I think we pitched up.
“But there is still a lot of field stuff that we need to sort out.
“I think there were times where we forced things a bit against EP when we should have held the ball.
“The boys are hungry to play and we said we wanted continuity in our game.
“I think we did just that. “We now have a 10-day turnaround before we play the Pumas, so we can work on our performance.
“I think it will be a lot harder than the EP game.
“We are up for it and we have a few days to prepare.
“The Bulls want to have a good flow to the game and we want to pride ourselves on that and not just the line-out balls, scrums and set pieces.
“If we can do that, and we have a lot of youngsters in the team, it will be superb for us.”
EP will have to find a new flyhalf for their match against the Lions after Inny Radebe fractured his hand against the Bulls.
Radebe, who kicked a penalty and a conversion for EP, left the field late in the game after playing on bravely despite the injury.