Bulls plan 'big effort' in Hamilton crunch
The Bulls are ready for a "big effort" in Hamilton on Friday, as they hope to extend their four-year unbeaten run against the Chiefs.
The New Zealand conference leaders, the Chiefs, last beat the Bulls in 2008 and the last time the sides met at the Waikato Stadium the Bulls triumphed 33-19 in 2010.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke, speaking ahead of the team's trip to Hamilton, admitted his team was "not accurate enough" in some aspects of their game during the 11-16 loss to the Highlanders last week.
And against another bruising Kiwi outfit they will have to raise the bar considerably.
"Last week we came very close, but there were a number of things we were simply not accurate enough," he said of a game that saw the Bulls collect their third losing bonus point of the season.
"We have put in a huge effort this week to make some minor adjustments and drill in those things," Ludeke told this website in an interview from Auckland, where the Bulls did most of their preparations before travelling to Hamilton.
"This is a vital game, our most important game of the season," Ludeke said, adding: "We would like to finish the tour on a winning note, but we realise it will require an enormous effort.
"The Chiefs are a team in good form and the leading New Zealand team.
"We are ready to put in a big effort."
The Bulls mentor said the Chiefs, like all New Zealand teams, are very physical in contact.
"They are like South Africans, they pride themselves on their physicality and we are preparing for that [a huge physical battle]."
However, the Chiefs have other major threats, such as a backline spearheaded by the master of the off-load, Sonny Bill Williams.
"They have the ability to put you under enormous pressure from broken play," the coach said.
"They are very competitive in the set pieces, which is a big change from them in past years. They do create a solid base from set pieces and their defence is very disciplined.
"We will have to be very patient [on attack], as it is one aspect last week where we fell short.
"If we could just have looked after the ball through one or two more phases and showed patience then the game may well have finished very differently [in Dunedin]."
He also spoke of the need to work hard to get opportunities in the right areas and ensure you get maximum reward from those opportunities.
"We had to work very hard on defence against the Highlanders and it won't be any different this week.
"The margins will again be just as small, little things that can turn the game."
He said it is important is that they use this opportunity to end the tour on a winning note.
"There is plenty of rugby to be played [this season], but we are determined to bounce back after last week's loss," he added.
By Jan de Koning
