Bulls clearly starting to warm up to John Mitchell’s no-nonsense approach
The New Zealander is known for maintaining uncompromising standards and had warned against slacking off. The players responded in an encouraging manner.
RG Snyman of the Bulls during the Vodacom Bulls training session and press conference at Loftus Versfeld on April 12, 2018 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images)
In a normal week, the Bulls announce their match squad for their next game on a Monday already.
However, this was no ordinary week.
Head coach John Mitchell is known for the high standards he sets for his players and made no secret of the fact earlier this week that he felt some individuals had slacked off, especially before last week’s bye.
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He delayed telling the players who’ll play the Sharks in Durban on Saturday and gave an ultimatum: shape up on Tuesday or be sidelined.
The fact that Mitchell named a settled side for the weekend’s excursion to the coast illustrates how the players responded to that warning.
“It’s always difficult coming off a break,” the New Zealander said on Thursday.
“It does take a bit longer to get back into a rugby mindset. But the way the guys trained, especially after Tuesday’s session, showed that they realised they’re back in it. Their bodies responded really well.”
Given that the Bulls delivered a creditable performance against the Stormers in their last game, it was going to be hard to explain to outsiders why changes would need to be made.
Yet Mitchell is unapologetic about the need to include the lock pair of Lood de Jager and RG Snyman immediately upon their returns.
“I’m backing the experience of the two locks,” he said.
“They’re also very aware that there are three other youngsters breathing down their necks. They probably didn’t bring as much accuracy to the line-out (as Lood and RG do) but the physicality they brought was huge. There’s good competition.”
Bulls: Warrick Gelant, Johnny Kotze, Jesse Kriel, Burger Odendaal (c), Divan Rossouw, Handre Pollard, Ivan van Zyl, Hanro Liebenberg, Thembelani Bholi, Marco van Staden, Lood de Jager, RG Snyman, Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss, Pierre Schoeman. Bench: Jaco Visagie, Lizo Gqoboka, Frans van Wyk, Jason Jenkins, Roelof Smit, Andre Warner, Manie Libbok, Duncan Matthews.
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