The Bulls will have to come up with some inventive plans to cross the try line as they kick off preparations today for this weekend’s round two Super Rugby game against the Stormers in Cape Town.
Pote Human’s men were kept tryless in their 23-15 defeat to the Sharks in Durban last Friday and arguably come up against an even more formidable defence in the Stormers this weekend.
The men from the Cape didn’t concede a single point in downing the Hurricanes 27-0 at Newlands on Saturday afternoon and will look to be as stingy against the men from Pretoria.
However, the key for the Bulls players is to stay positive and now put the Durban showing behind them.
Conditions, which were wet and humid, made life difficult for the Bulls, who battled to get any sort of momentum or rhythm into their game, while their handling also let them down on a number of occasions and a few good try-scoring opportunities were missed because of this.
Also, the Bulls, who are still missing the concussed Marco van Staden, struggled to match the Sharks at the breakdowns, and Human will no doubt look this week to strengthen his team’s breakdown ability.
“It’s not the way we wanted to start, but it’s also not the end of the road; there’s a long way to go,” said Human after the match on Friday night.
There were, however, also a good few positives to take from the Bulls’ performance, among them the fact that the players kept fighting until the final whistle, while their set-pieces also functioned well at times.
Also, the performance of veteran flyhalf Morné Steyn was hugely encouraging.
The 35-year-old, who has joined the Bulls from French club Stade Francais, varied his game well, while his distribution and kicking were mostly top-notch.
Human, too, was pleased with Steyn’s performance in difficult conditions.
“It was a good outing for Morne... he’d been criticised a bit for being too old,” said Human.
“There was lots of pressure on him but he showed he still has it. He was good.”
As with all the teams’ coaches today, Human will now have a far greater understanding of where his team are as a unit and which individuals he should back or change.
In a match that never reached any great heights because of the soggy conditions, few players stood out, and Bulls fans will hope their team’s early season rust has now finally gone.
“It was the first match and we can’t let our heads hang now,” said Bulls captain Burger Odendaal.
“We have to learn out of this and be better moving forward.
“It doesn’t get easier and we must gel quickly, but we must just stay positive.”