Rampaging Bulls charging at Newlands
The Bulls have allowed themselves very little time for back-slapping, following their 53-point demolition of the defending champion Reds.
The Bulls were pure class as they ran in eight tries (in a 61-8 win) against the Reds – with seven scored in the second half, after having persistently turned up the pressure in the opening 40 minutes.
However, the Bulls know the next assignment will require of them to take a considerable step up, when they meet the table-topping Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
While the competition is still in its early days, the Bulls exhibited a clinical temperament that should make them serious title contenders.
“We will take this result any day and are satisfied when things do come together as a team,” captain Pierre Spies said of his team’s demolition of the reds.
“It was an unbelievable performance.
“We will take the momentum and confidence out of this performance.
“The boys were awesome and I am so proud of them.
“Having a bye last weekend helped us to regroup and some players needed the time off to recover from injuries,” Spies said.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke was elated with the patience his side displayed.
“It is quite satisfying to see that if you build pressure in the first half and you might not get the rewards,” said Ludeke.
“That patience in the second half and even the last 15 minutes when the impact players came on they played with the same intensity.”
The coach praised his men after having created scoring opportunities by continuously building pressure.
“The maul operated well, and as soon we got the rhythm on the gain line, we created that momentum,” Ludeke said.
“It was good to see guys finishing off opportunities. Credit to the players.
“There were a lot of numbers on their feet and we got a lot of phase play options to create that line breaks, and the guys made their first time tackles behind the gain line.”
It was anticipated that the Bulls’ dogged determination would result in a Reds collapse which came shortly after the half-time break.
Spies said they did not expect the tourists to cave in, but had focused on piling on the pressure.
“I don’t really think the wall was going to break, I just felt we had the momentum when we carried the ball,” said Spies.
“We created a good lead in the first half, in the second we just kept going and the result came.
“We had one or two penalties that kept them in the game in the first half, and obviously the [first half] scrums were the big question mark.
“The second half was much better and you have to adapt to what happens in the game.”
SAPA
