Captain Ruan Nortje stands by Willie le Roux as Felix Jones joins Bulls training

Willie le Roux has always been a player that the fans tend to either love or hate, and it was the former emotion that pervaded Bulls supporters at the conclusion of last week’s enthralling north-south derby in Cape Town.

In the last movement of the game, with the Stormers leading 13-8 but with the Bulls in possession, the Springbok full-back chose not to keep the ball in hand. Instead, he sent a speculative kick to the open-side touchline, but it sailed over the head of chasing Bulls wing Stravino Jacobs and into touch. The final whistle went, that was that for the Bulls, and a groan erupted out of Pretoria, followed by the collective refrain, ”Why the heck did he kick it?!”

Why indeed …

After the match, Bulls coach Johan Ackermann lamented the fine margins that went against his team as they slid to a sixth consecutive defeat across all competitions. This was one of them. Shortly before, the Stormers' replacement prop Ntuthuko Mchunu had scored to break the 8-8 deadlock.

Just under two minutes remained, but the Bulls did superbly to reclaim Handre Pollard’s restart, via the impressive wing Sebastian de Klerk.

This was why there was so much disappointment from Bulls fans when Le Roux, a few phases later, undid the good work with his injudicious kick. The Bulls turn their attention to Saturday’s Champions Cup match against the Bristol Bears at Loftus Versfeld, but before discussing this game, captain Ruan Nortje was asked about the ending to the match in Cape Town.

Nortje defended Le Roux’s gamble on a kick instead of keeping possession so that the Bulls could work their way toward the Stormers’ try-line. “I wouldn’t say there was a certain way we said we want to do things in that position,” Nortje explained.

“For us, our drivers had to take control there. And then we back each player. If Willie thought that the kick was on, we'd back him all the way. And we still back him. If that ball bounced right and we scored under the poles, people would be saying what an amazing player Willie is. At the end of the day, it comes down to the bounce of the ball. We will always back the decisions our players make.”

There has been no lack of drama at Loftus in recent weeks. In a reaction to the string of defeats, assistant coaches Andries Bekker and Chris Rossouw were sacked, and Neil de Bruin was appointed attack coach.

There was also a rumpus over the Bulls’ approach to SA Rugby for assistance from the Springbok coaching staff. While SA Rugby agreed to the request, no assistance occurred during the build-up to the SA derby in Cape Town.

But this week help arrived in the form of Felix Jones. “Coach Felix was here today (Tuesday) just helping us with a few things in training,” Nortje said. “It’s nothing major. We’ve struggled to find continuity, but January is about settling down and finding our feet,” Nortje added.

“We are definitely climbing the ladder, and we are really excited for the weekend. There’s nothing like winning — a win can change anything overnight. We just have to get over that hurdle.”