Bulls have fixed their defensive frailties

The vultures are circling, hoping to pick off the carcass of a decaying Bulls team. However, the three-time champions’ coach is adamant they are not ready for the slaughterhouse just yet.

Despite having moved to the top of the South African conference, and second place overall on the Super Rugby standings, the team’s detractors feel the Bulls’ defensive frailties in recent weeks will come back to haunt them as the second half of the season gathers pace.

The Bulls let in just 11 tries in the first eight weeks of Super Rugby action, but have since leaked 10 tries in their last two outings. Suddenly questions are being asked about their defensive structures.

They opened their murderous four-match Australasian tour with a 41-35 win over the Rebels in Melbourne at the weekend, but conceded five tries – four of those in a hectic first half that saw both teams wrap up the bonus point before the break.

In their previous match the Bulls also conceded five tries, edging a fast-finishing Brumbies outfit 36-34 – having held a 36-13 lead with 10 minutes to go to full-time.

However, Ludeke felt those were momentary lapses, rather than a general lack of defensive steel.

“We put in a big defensive effort,” he said of his team’s win in Melbourne this past weekend, “on occasions there were one or two poor decisions… a couple of errors of judgment.”

Ludeke, speaking to this website ahead of his team’s Round 12 encounter with the Waratahs in Sydney on Friday, spoke of how his team turned a sloppy first-half performance into a more respectable second-half effort on defence.

The match statistics back up his claim that his team had a big day on defence. The Bulls attempted 236 tackles and missed 30-odd – making more than 200 tackles against the hard-running Rebels.

It is similar to their performance against the Brumbies in Week Nine, when the Bulls attempted 162 tackles and missed 28 – yet still pulled of the win.

And the Men from Pretoria are not alone in pulling off vital victories, despite slipping more than the usual number of tackles.

The Brumbies, in their 23-6 all-Aussie derby win over the Waratahs this past weekend attempted 237 tackles and missed 27 – making 210 tackles. And in Durban the Sharks, who humbled the Highlanders 28-16, attempted 240 tackles and missed 30 – also making 210 tackles.

Ludeke readily admits that his team was below their usual high standards in the last few rounds, but suggested they had already made the adjustment during the game in Melbourne.

“In the second half we sorted out all those little issues that went wrong in the first half [letting in just one try after the break],” he told this website.

“The players responded very well and fixed the problems very well,” he said, adding that the Rebels’ solitary second-half try was just “a bad judgment” in the midfield, where they waltzed through.

“That [one try] aside, we kept them out well [in the second half]. (But) I agree, conceding four tries [in the first half] is not good enough by our standards.”

The Bulls mentor does not share the view of some pundits that the struggling Waratahs, their opponents this coming week, was a limited outfit.

The ‘Tahs, hovering in 10th place on the table and having scored just 22 tries in 10 games to the Bulls’ 33 in nine outings, are regarded as one of the most dour teams in the tournament.

However, Ludeke feels they can be expansive and unpredictable.

“You never know what their strategy will be,” he said of the ‘Tahs.

“The last couple of games they did try and speed up play and attempted to keep the ball away from us by countering from deep and retaining the ball.

“We have to prepare for any scenario. They do play a great tactical game and have a strong set of forwards … so they do have variation.”

The other aspect of the Tahs that could cause the Bulls major headaches is the Waratahs’ solid set-piece play.

“They take a lot of pride in their set-pieces. Throughout the season they have been solid in the scrums, good in the line-outs and restarts, while their forwards play towards the ball very effectively and are effective at the breakdown.”

The Bulls, on a four-match winning streak and with just two defeats all season, will take a lot more momentum into the game than the ‘Tahs – who have lost their last two matches and six overall in 2012.

“Our approach is always that it is nil-all at the start of the match,” he cautioned, ahead of a game that could see the Bulls make an Australian clean-sweep on tour for only the second time in their history.

The last, and only, time the Bulls won both their matches on tour in Australia was in 2007 – when they beat the Brumbies and Waratahs.

“The positives of the last few matches is that the gameplan is working and that creates a positive mindset in the team,” Ludeke said.

“We do realise that we will have to put in a concerted 80-minute effort this weekend and make adjustments in the game if something goes awry.

“If you do that, then you have a great chance of getting the result [victory].”

The Bulls mentor said he was not looking further than the next match, even though a win would set them up nicely ahead of the New Zealand leg of the tour.

“Our focus is purely to get the result [win] this weekend,” he said, adding: “We’ve had two great days, after last Friday’s match, allowing the [rest of] the team to get rid of all their bumps and bruises.”

The Bulls have lost the services of Springbok prop Dean Greyling, who returned home for the birth of his first child, whilst fellow prop Frik Kirsten (hand fracture) and loose forward Jacques Potgieter (knee injury) returned home because of injuries.

The Men from Pretoria have back-to-back Friday matches, which Ludeke sees as an advantage.

He explained: “Playing on a Friday makes the week shorter, because before you know the game is on you.

“That is why our focus is on this game, to ensure we are well prepared and ready to play top quality rugby.”

By Jan de Koning