JOHANNESBURG – A few skilful touches in their warm-up match against the Stormers left Bulls coach Pote Human optimistic about his team’s progress ahead of the start of the Super Rugby campaign.
The Bulls at times made too many 50-50 passes, which led to unforced errors in their 33-28 defeat to the Stormers in Sunday’s Super Hero-themed match in Cape Town.
Most of the mistakes happened in the first half with the team recovering well to take the lead shortly after the halftime break before a late try resulted in a Stormers victory.
“The skills are there, and I must compliment Chris Rossouw (backline and attack coach) coming in and working really hard with the guys,” Human said after the match.
“It is exciting times and especially with the way we want to play, everybody knows the old style of play at the Bulls. We want to play expansive rugby, and I think we are on the right path.”
Human, who was named as John Mitchell’s replacement as Super Rugby mentor in December, said he retained some of the former All Blacks coach’s playbook, while making a few adjustments.
“He (Mitchell) lay the foundation, and all the players are excited about the season and now it is time to produce, it showed again today,” Human said.
“He laid the foundation and we’ll tweak here and there. With Chris coming in, I am very happy.”
Bulls captain Lood de Jager echoed Human’s sentiments, highlighting that they still had this weekend’s warm-up match against the Sharks in Durban to make further tweaks before their Super Rugby opener against the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld on February 16.
“We are focusing on the processes at the moment. There is a bigger picture, so for us, it was just about executing our plays,” De Jager said.
Today is #TryTuesday and what better way to celebrate it with this gem from Vodacom Bulls Fly Half, Handré Pollard!
Good to see him back in blue 👊🏼 #RealLiveSuperHeroes #Superpowered pic.twitter.com/7VFxc40sdy
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) February 5, 2019
@ockertde