CAPE TOWN - The Bulls have scored an incredible 135 points in their two warm-up games against Eastern Province and the Pumas over the last few weeks.
Included in that tally are 19 tries, but the two performances were far from perfect from the young group of players who are trying to force their way into the starting XV for the upcoming Rainbow Cup.
Here are four issues that Jake White’s side need to work on ahead of Friday’s clash against the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld (7pm kick-off).
Secure kick-offs
Back in the Super Rugby glory days, Victor Matfield was the king of the kick-offs for the Bulls. But despite Ruan Nortjé’s consistency in the line-outs last season, the restarts haven’t been smooth sailing for the Pretoria outfit.
Janko Swanepoel is just 21 years old, but is the man wearing the No 5 jersey at the moment, and he needs to take charge of the kick-off responsibility for the Bulls.
The Pumas contested the kick-offs well at Mbombela Stadium from the very first one in the third minute, disrupting the visitors and with no-one taking control and claiming possession.
At least wing Madosh Tambwe also put the Pumas under pressure by getting up in the air to contest the Bulls’ kick-offs.
Defensive lapses
It is understandable that there would be gaps in the defence, as this Bulls combination hasn’t played together much. But when one-on-one tackles or missed, or the opposition are able to make offloads in the tackle, those are things that can be avoided.
The first Pumas try came from a maul, where the Bulls pack would’ve been confident of keeping them out, while the visitors’ pillar defence around the ruck fringes were also found wanting.
In general, the Bulls just gave the Pumas too much easy yards on attack, and need to cut down the opposition’s space.
Width on attack
Playing with width and flair was actually one of the Bulls’ strengths as they charged towards the Super Rugby Unlocked and Currie Cup titles last season.
The likes of Kurt-Lee Arendse, Travis Ismaiel and Stravino Jacobs were brought into play regularly.
But against the stronger Pumas side, Tambwe hardly carried the ball in anger, while Jacobs – even though he scored a try – also didn’t see much of the ball either.
The Bulls played a narrower game than they did last season, with many more ‘crash-ball’ moments up the middle.
Sure, first-choice centres Cornal Hendricks and Stedman Gans have the special footwork to keep the opposition guessing, but backline coach Chris Rossouw would want to see more variety overall with ball-in-hand.
Lack of physicality
White said during the first half against the Pumas that his team had been a “bit soft” when it comes to their physicality, and that the Bulls had allowed the Pumas to get well across the advantage line.
The Bulls just never matched the in-your-face attitude of the Pumas, despite scoring a few maul tries. Pumas lock Brandon Valentyn’s robustness in trying to defend those mauls, when carrying the ball and when making tackles was exactly the kind of intensity that was lacking from the visitors.
IOL Sport