AUDIO: Mitchell still 'helping' Bulls
REACTION: The Bulls’ 28-33 preseason defeat to the Stormers is not much of a concern for head coach Pote Human.
The Bulls, with eight Springboks in their Sunday squad, managed to score four tries compared to Stormers’ five at Cape Town Stadium during the Super Hero Sunday pre-season fixture.
The Pretoria-based side found themselves trailing 0-21 after just 18 minutes of play. However, they responded with some great attacking play which resulted in tries for flyhalf Handre Pollard and Ivan van Zyl.
In the final 10 minutes, the Bulls led 28-26 but a late try from Stormers captain and lock Chris van Zyl snatched the win.
The two teams meet again at Loftus Versfeld in the first round of Super Rugby on February 16 and will again don the Marvel-inspired strip.
“We played very well, [I] think they [Stormers] capitalized on our mistakes.” Human told reporters at the Cape Town Stadium.
“I’m not concerned by the outcome of this match. It’s never good [for the Bulls] to lose to WP or the Stormers, but there were other things we wanted to achieve.
“These are exciting times for us.
“We want to play an expansive brand of rugby and we showed we are on the right path,”
FULLTIME
Vodacom Bulls 28 vs 33 DHL Stormers #STOvBUL #BullsFamily #SuperPowered #SuperHeroSunday pic.twitter.com/29kXSynFMk
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) February 3, 2019
There is loads of pressure on the Bulls to rectify last year’s woes in Super Rugby.
The side, who boast three Super Rugby titles, secured six wins from 16 games, finished the season at the bottom of the South African conference and 12th on the overall log under the guidance of former coach John Mitchell.
Nonetheless, Human believes that Mitchell’s blueprint is a vital building block for a successful 2019 season.
“[Mitchell] laid the foundation last year and I’m very happy to keep building on that,”
“There will be a few tweaks here and there with Chris [Rossouw] coming in but we are heading in the right direction and it is the time to produce.
“The side is very excited about the season,”
Bulls wing Duncan Matthews is the only injury concern.
By Leezil Hendricks
@Leezil07
@rugby365com
