Pote exercises restraint in his team selection for clash with Blues
WITH a licence to make a number of changes to ignite the Bulls’ season, coach Pote Human exercised restraint, instead, in his team selection for the game against the Blues at Loftus on Saturday.
It isn’t just that the Bulls have failed to record a win after two matches since the start of Super Rugby but that they have been abject on attack, proven by their inability to cross the tryline in their outings against the Sharks and Stormers.
They have been careless with the limited ball they’ve had and their structural offensive game lacks the cutting edge required to carve up educated defensive systems that the Sharks and Stormers possess.
Still, Human felt it unnecessary to bring the change that many have been clamouring for: Manie Libbok at flyhalf for Morne Steyn.
It’s a complicated selection problem for the coach. On one hand he wishes his team would play the kind of rugby that the Stormers and Lions served up last weekend in their 33-30 thriller but, at the same time, he is paralysed by fear of being without his only real goal-kicking weapon.
So, Human has opted for the safer option of bringing Libbok in when the game is stretched, after Steyn has given the Bulls something to work with on the scoreboard. However, if the 13-0 loss in their last outing against the Stormers provided any clues it’s that a gun kicker alone doesn’t suffice as a fearsome attacking threat.
“Morne is still playing at No 10 and if it’s raining he’ll kick and maybe play more minutes,” Human said.
“But we want to give Manie more game time because he can open up the game more in the second half, alongside Ambrose Papier. They can speed up the game and that’s what we’ll need in the second half especially here at altitude.
“After the first two losses away from home, we really worked hard on our attack in these (past) two weeks.
“I just think we didn’t use our opportunities. Against the Sharks, we were there and we could have won that game and I really thought the forwards played well against the Stormers. Again, the opportunities were there and we didn’t convert.
“That’s something that bothers the whole team and we worked on that the last two weeks.”
Human added that there has been a “mind-set shift” and that he was hoping the rain stays away on Saturday so the Bulls could show their forlorn fans that they have much to offer going forward.
THE BULLS TEAM:
Warrick Gelant, Cornal Hendricks, Johnny Kotze, Burger Odendaal(C), Rosko Specman, Morne Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Josh Strauss, Wian Vosloo, Jeandre Rudolph, Juandre Kruger, Andries Ferreira, Trevor Nyakane, Jaco Visagie, Lizo Gqoboka. Replacements: Corniel Els, Gerhard Steenekamp, Wiehahn Herbst, Ruan Nortje, Ruan Steenkamp, Embrose Papier, Manie Libbok, Divan Rossouw.