A battered and bruised Bulls side must shrug off any lingering hangovers after a gut-wrenching 13-8 defeat against the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship, coach Johan Ackermann says. It was a sixth consecutive loss in all competitions, and a concerned Ackermann said the Bulls must get their season back on track when they face the Bristol Bears in an Investec Champions Cup clash at Loftus on Saturday. He said the Bulls will empty the tank against Bristol and also against Pau in France on January 16 in a bid to end an alarming losing streak.
“We’re going full out with the strongest possible team for the next two games,” Ackermann said. “If we lose we’re out. If we win we’re in the playoffs — it’s simple.
This next block is about getting everyone on the same page, building cohesion and turning our season around.” Ackermann said the bounce of the ball and 50-50 calls went against the Bulls in what proved to be a frustrating match against the Stormers. “It’s obviously disappointing, we are all emotional and it hurts to lose like this,” he said. “I feel sorry for the players because things just don’t seem to want to turn for us.
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“Even when we win a high ball, the bounce doesn’t go our way. It feels like every little kick goes against us and you don’t get the 50-50 calls from the referee; it’s a tough place to be.” Ackermann said there had been no lack of effort from his players in a tense match watched by 53,000 fans. “I wanted the players to put their hands up and they did,” he said.
“It wasn’t a fluent game. There were mistakes from both sides and it boiled down to one or two big decisions. Credit to the Stormers, they finished well.” “I wanted the boys to contest.
We could have stayed on the floor and tried to defend the maul, but we went up and contested. We won it, it was millimetres and Ruan Nortjé just missed the ball. Hopefully soon it turns for us.
The wind definitely made the aerial contest difficult,” Ackermann said. “The ball looks like it’s going far and then suddenly drops short. It’s tough for both sides. But that’s not the reason we lost — that was in our hands.
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