Marais to fulfill his mission at Bulls
Their recent 24-62 defeat against the Crusaders in Pretoria left a sour taste in the Loftus Versfeld faithful's mouth.
The visitors needed only five minutes to take the lead against the Bulls through flank Pete Samu and built a 31-3 advantage by half-time which saw many supporters making their way to the exit.
The Bulls managed to score three tries but passive defence resulted in 10 tries being conceded.
With many pundits and former Bulls' players calling for the Bulls' mentor to be axed, Marais brushed off suggestions that his job is in jeopardy.
Instead, he has regarded it as a situation every coach face.
"That's a decision that is not up to me. I think there are two coaches in life – one that is fired and one who is going to get fired.
"The the only thing I can do now is to get the team ready for the next match.
"I know there are a lot of unhappy people and I have accepted it. Whatever happens at the end of the day that is the [Blue Bulls Union board’s] decision," Marais said.
"In the beginning, I set up a goal and went to the board and said this is our plan and this is our way forward – and I will stick to that plan.
“I have a certain belief in rugby, I know it doesn’t look like that now – I have always been successful where I coached, however, I do think there are certain things we need to change.
"We have a good coaching staff and if they want to blame someone it has to be me.
"I am in control of the team, so I take full responsibility for the team. I do believe that the Bulls will again be a force to be reckoned with," he added.
With no chance of making the play-offs after six losses in nine outings, the under-fire coach is left with a mammoth burden of preparing the Bulls to face the Highlanders, Lions [at Ellis Park] and Hurricanes before the June break.
"It is not easy, the three weeks ahead are a difficult period before the June break. However, we should just take the loss [against Crusaders] and work on next week.
"We do feel let down by certain things during the match and the players let themselves down. There were certain things that we don’t coach that came out when they were faced with pressure.
"But I am not going to sit here and points fingers that will just divide the team further. We need to stick together and fight,"
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