Bulls won't be held back
Marais admitted that his side tried too much in the first half against Griquas at Loftus Versfeld on Friday, but said that it is to be expected if they truly want to expand their game this season.
He was full of praise for the fighting spirit they showed in the second half after going into the half-time break 12-6 down, and said that they had learned a few valuable lessons in the process.
"In the beginning we played very good rugby, we just didn't get the reward. We forced too many offloads, last week we kept them but we tried too many things today.
"I think it is a good curve for these boys to learn how to play through different situations, and how to create space from that situation.
"When we came in at half-time I said to the guys 'just relax, play, it will come'.
"Credit to the Griquas they defended really well in the first half," he said.
The Bulls coach said that the first-half performance was a result of the new direction they are trying to go in, and made it clear he does not want to discourage that process in any way.
"They are going to give me more grey hair because they are going to try things, but that is what we wanted in playing a different style of rugby and they believe in it so you can't hold them back.
"They just stepped up and showed that it doesn't matter how old you are it matter who you have to play.
"I thought we were going to get into the changeroom and be a bit erratic, guys were going to fight with each other, but they just kept calm and said 'listen we are going to do this in this area'.
"I loved it because that just makes my job easier because I don't have to calm everyone down," he said.
After their dominant performance against the Cheetahs last week, Marais said that their difficulties against Griquas give them a good opportunity to learn and grow as a team.
"Against the Cheetahs everything we did worked, today it didn't work for us every time and we tried to force too many things and that is a learning curve for the guys as well.
"We are playing such good rugby, but that last one we are just forcing. Every week we will be better and better as you go through the videos and show the players," he added.
