Near-perfect Bulls start season with a bang

Bulls coach Pote Human has described his side’s impressive 40-3 Super Rugby win over the Stormers at the weekend as a “near-perfect” performance.

The Bulls played attacking rugby as they scored four tries through Johnny Kotze‚ Jesse Kriel and a brace by debutant Rosko Specman.

Man of the match Handrè Pollard dazzled as he converted all seven his kicks four conversions and three penalties. The Stormers’ penalty was scored by SP Marais.

Their defence was able to stop the Stormers from scoring a try and they impressed with their lineouts in which they managed to take the ball away from their visitors. Their scrummaging was also on point.

“Overall it was a near-perfect performance from the boys but I agree that we gave away soft penalties and sometimes in defence we were too narrow.

“Those are the few things that we need to work [on] more going forward‚” said a satisfied Human after his first match in charge at this level. “This is a good confidence-booster for the guys and we are looking forward to the season.

“I know that we have the squad to do well this year but we must just stay on the ground and be humble. There is no doubt that we will surprise a lot of teams this season.

“In our set pieces‚ especially in the lineouts‚ we were very impressive because we managed to take the ball away from them, and not to concede a try against the Stormers is a great achievement.”

Captain Lood de Jager agreed with Human that they were spot on with their set pieces. “It was a good effort by the pack; everybody went out to the field to execute the plans.

“We spent a lot of time off the field analysing these things.

“There was calmness on the field‚ especially in the second half because we managed to take a good lead to the break.

“That little bit of experience helped‚ we stayed calm and we knew that they had to chase the game‚” said De Jager.

Though Pollard was named man of the match for his sterling work with the boot‚ Specman’s two early tries set the tone for the victory. Human said the SA Sevens star has the X-factor.

“It is unbelievable to have a player like Rosko in our team‚” he said. “I knew we needed someone like him and he proved that he has the X-factor that the Bulls need because last year [2018] we played some good rugby at times and lacked a finisher.”

Specman said he did not expect to score two tries in his Super Rugby debut.

“I didn’t think that I would play like this on my debut. We did good work up front and I knew that if their defence retreats spaces will open.

“They created spaces for me and my job as a winger is to finish and I did that.”

Battered and bruised Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has refused to attribute his side’s heavy 40-3 defeat to the Bulls at Loftus on Saturday to the turmoil playing out off the field at Western Province Rugby.

The union has been mired in controversy over the deployment of assistant coach Paul Treu at the union, but Fleck said he would not use it as an excuse for their poor performance in the Super Rugby opener.

The visitors from the Cape produced one of their worst performances in the competition and failed to score a try.

“I am going to say no to that because we are a tight-knit group and we are not going to worry about what is happening off the field‚” he said. “It was an off day, but we will pick up the pieces and go back to work on Monday because the season is still long. We have to look after ourselves and focus on what we have to do.

“Looking back at the game it was a clinical performance by the Bulls and not so much from us because we made a lot of mistakes. This result is not going to keep us down.

“We had an excellent preseason and came into this match with confidence and the intention to win. It is a setback but we are going to have to pick ourselves up.

“Many teams have lost their first games but picked up the pieces and did well.”

The match was delayed for about 20 minutes after the Stormers were held up in heavy traffic on their way to Loftus and Fleck also did not want to use that as an excuse.

“That will be an excuse‚” he said. “The reality is that we did not deliver as we hoped and won’t look for excuses outside of the field. We have to congratulate the Bulls for a good performance and we will have to pick up the pieces from here‚” he said‚ adding that the loss of captain Siya Kolisi after 26 minutes due to injury was a huge blow.

“When you lose your inspirational leader it does affect you. Siya is our captain and he leads by example.

“I thought he started off well by putting pressure on Lood [De Jager] and for him to go early affected us. He got a finger in the eye and he could not continue and it was a shame to lose him that early in the game.”

Fleck said that they were outplayed in all areas of the game, especially in the line-outs in which they were dominated by the Bulls.

“It was a frustrating performance from us. You can’t play at this level without possession. Possibly‚ the only positive for us was our scrum. I felt we had them under pressure and deserved a little bit more at scrum time. Our line-out didn’t function‚ they contested a lot and we just couldn’t build phases.

The Bulls delivered “in every aspect of the game”.

“I thought their kicking game was good and one thing that coach Pote Human has brought back to the Bulls is their traditional style of rugby.

“Once they built the lead‚ Handré Pollard took control of things and they kept on putting us under pressure.”