Bulls coach Johan Ackermann didn't hold back after his side's 32-19 derby defeat to the Stormers. From handling errors to discipline issues, the "basics" let the Bulls down at Loftus. Photo: Backpagepix
Image: Backpagepix
Bulls coach Johan Ackermann says he sounded the warning siren to his players during the buildup to their SA derby with the Stormers at the weekend, but his words did not sink in.
The Bulls were hot favourites to beat their old foe, but they were not at the races, with the Cape team showing more urgency, accuracy and hunger as they powered to an emphatic 32-19 win.
The home fixture had provided the Bulls with a good opportunity to make inroads into the top half of the URC top eight, but their failure leaves them in eighth position, while the Stormers climb from sixth to fourth.
“We were caught off guard, even though we had spoken about the danger the Stormers presented,” the dismayed Ackermann said.
“It was the basic stuff that let us down. It is frustrating to lose if you are not doing the basics well.”
The Bulls were horribly sloppy, notably in their handling and in their discipline, with players queuing up for the sin bin.
“It is disappointing because the things we did badly in this match are the things we got right when we were winning in the last month or so,” the coach reflected.
“We as coaches must look at ourselves and take it on the chin. In these derbies, form is out the door, everyone is good, and the Stormers were more accurate than us.
“I said to the players in the change room, ‘this hurts, but there is no time to sulk. We have a short turnaround — we play Cardiff (in Pretoria) on Friday — and the best thing we can do is fix ourselves and come back on Monday as a team with the right mindset.
“If we don’t bounce back on Friday, we will lose touch with the top teams.”
Ackermann chose not to single out individual underperformance. He felt the collective did not pitch up.
“I don’t think it was individuals, I think if you look at the 80 minutes, as a team we just didn’t play the rugby we can play.
“On the day, we were just not there. If you think you can just pitch up and play because you are in form, it is the biggest mistake you can make in any derby. One of the last things I said to the players was, “remember, we are playing a desperate side, but we must also be desperate.
“This is the margins of sport, you can never predict a favourite if two good teams play each other.
“If we had taken some of our opportunities in the first half and gone into a 14-0 lead, it could have been a different game, but we didn’t. And the Stormers stayed in the fight, and they got the result. All credit to them.”
Adding injury to insult, the Bulls will be without two backline players against Cardiff — wing Sebastian de Klerk suffered a foot injury and centre Harold Vorster failed a concussion test late in the game.