After seven straight losses the Bulls have now won three in a row, and they want to continue that run after having the next few weeks off.
Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee said he was proud of his team’s statement United Rugby Championship (URC) Jukskei derby win at Ellis Park on Saturday, while Lions captain Francke Horn admitted the heavy loss was a timely wakeup call for his side.
Less than a month ago the Bulls were struggling, having gone down to Bristol Bears at Loftus in a high-scoring Champions Cup game for their seventh straight loss in all competitions, and things were looking extremely dire.
But they then went on the road and broke their losing streak with a tight 26-24 Champions Cup win over Pau in France, followed that up with another thriller, a 19-17 URC win over Edinburgh in Scotland, and capped it off back in South Africa with a 52-17 thrashing of the Lions in Joburg.
Revenge complete
It was a bit of revenge for the Pretoria side after the Lions won the Jukskei derby in November last year, 43-33 at Loftus, and it was a performance that firmly stated the Bulls were back on track after a difficult couple of months.
“The first word that comes to mind is ‘proud’. We have had a good three weeks and this was just the cherry on the cake. That’s the kind of performance we want and we now want to build on that,” Coetzee said after the match.
“I think we are getting the balance right. We pride ourselves on our set-piece game, but we also want to be exciting with our attack and it showed today.
“The guys really expressed themselves. We told them before the game, go out there, enjoy it, express yourself, use your talent and the boys really stepped up.
“I have to compliment the guys for their never-say-die attitude. We will build on that, and it is great that our next few games will be at Loftus now. But we are going to enjoy the break, and then we want to continue this momentum. We’ve built some great momentum and we don’t want to let it slip.”
Not good enough
Horn readily admitted that the performance was just not good enough from his team, and was probably a good wakeup call, as they slipped from seventh on the log to 10th, and they now have it all to do over the rest of the competition.
“I think if you look at it, there were a lot of errors from our side and we couldn’t build up any pressure on the Bulls. Well done to them, they capitalised on every single mistake. It wasn’t what we wanted to produce, but we have to take it on the chin and go forward,” said Horn.
“All in all it wasn’t good enough from our side, and it was a Bulls team that was really up for it and took every opportunity that they got.
“It is only halfway now (in the URC campaign). But it is maybe a good wakeup call, we have to take it on the chin and move forward. We have the Sharks in three weeks’ time, so it’s a nice time for some serious prep.”
