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Bulls coach Johan Ackermann is worried about his team’s defensive frailties ahead of two tough away United Rugby Championship (URC) derbies over the next three weeks.
Ackermann is in a tight spot, after a bright start to his career at the Loftus side saw his team win their opening two URC games at home.
Since then they have won just one out of six matches, although five of those games have been away from home on the road, four of which they have lost.
They now face two massive away derby encounters, against the Sharks in Durban this coming weekend and against the Stormers in Cape Town at the start of January, and another two defeats would leave them in a perilous position.
Most concerning is the amount of tries they have leaked in their last three games, against the Lions at Loftus in the URC and in their two Champions Cup defeats, against Bordeaux Begles at home and Northampton Saints away.
They started by shipping six tries against the Lions, followed by seven against Bordeaux and eight against Saints, for a grand total of 21 tries over those three matches.
Becoming an issue
Ackermann said after the Saints defeat, which was admittedly played by a largely ‘B’ Bulls side, that it was certainly becoming an issue for the team.
“When you leak that amount of tries, you start questioning yourself as coaches and management. We prepared the guys well during the week. Friday was one of our better training sessions, and it doesn’t help that we lost by the margin that we lost,” explained Ackermann.
“The only thing we can do is keep working with the individuals, keep working with the team, and keep working at improving. I know talk is cheap because at the end of the day, the results are not showing that we’re working on it, but I can promise that we are.
“When we pick players, there is an expectation that they can do the job, and we can keep working with them, then it’s up to us to make sure they can do it. If we feel they can’t do it, then we’ll give the next guy an opportunity.”
Returning Boks
The Bulls will likely be banking heavily on their Springbok contingent to turn the ship around in their next two games, with many set to return to action for the franchise against the Stormers.
Players like Handre Pollard, Canan Moodie, Wilco Louw, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Ruan Nortje, Gerhard Steenekamp and others will be expected to bring some much-needed fire into the team and try and inspire them against a similarly star-studded Sharks team at Kings Park.
Both teams have struggled this season and it will thus be a match between two desperate sides hunting for a morale boosting win.
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