Bulls boss seeks clarity on 'flabbergasting’ call against Glasgow

REACTION: Bulls head coach Johan Ackermann has been left “flabbergasted” following an incident during his team’s 12-21 defeat to Glasgow Warriors at the Scotstoun Stadium on Friday.

Ackermann was referring to referee Craig Evans’ decision to award a penalty try to Glasgow Warriors in the 64th minute – a call that came after Francois Klopper was ruled to have played off his feet in a maul.

The decision proved decisive in the highly contested match.

The Bulls were leading 12-7 after 60 minutes and looked well on their way to securing a win when Springbok duo Kurt-Lee Arendse and Willie le Roux linked up for an incredible try.

However, it was chalked off due to a knock-on in the build-up.

Instead, it was Glasgow who got the next score. The Scottish side were awarded a penalty try in the 64th minute after the officials ruled that Klopper collapsed the maul.

The player was also handed a yellow card.

“It could have gone any way, but the big swing in the game was the penalty try,” Ackermann said.

“I will get some clarification on that because the footage we’ve got, and we’ve looked at it over, and I begged Ruan [Nortjé, Bulls captain] to ask the referee, but they seem to only go back when it’s knock-ons and not when it’s big decisions like that.”

Ackermann added: “The only guys off their feet were Glasgow. Francois Klopper was standing right in the middle on his feet in the maul.

“So, to make a big call like that without referring it, without being certain, just flabbergasts me. In this modern game, we’ve got the technology and we’re willing to make calls like that on the spur of the moment, but we’ve got time after we make a goal-kick to go back to a knock-on.”

Despite the setback, Ackermann praised his side’s defensive effort but acknowledged areas for improvement as the team approaches the international break.

“The big thing is we lost the possession and territory battle for the third week in a row. That’s something we need to fix urgently.

“[In terms of] general play, we can attack a bit better.

“Make sure that we’re tactically a little bit better so that we can put teams under pressure both ways, through our kicking and our running.

“Look at getting a bit more unpredictable in the space that we attack.”

The coach admitted the tour was not the ideal result. The Bulls suffered a defeat to Ulster before a win against Connacht.

“[Friday’s defeat] put a big damper on [the tour],” Ackermann said.

“I felt if we got points out of that – another try and we took two points out of it – it would have been, you know, probably a fair reflection of the tour.

“We didn’t play the best rugby, but we were in most of the games, we had opportunities, and we didn’t use them all.

“But if I look beyond rugby, this is my first tour with the players. I’ve met, I’ve seen a lot of the players now, and how they react under pressure.

“I’ve learned more about them off the field – how we as a team spend time with each other.

“We didn’t have any issues with them. They are a nice group to travel with, easy to travel with. So, I learned a lot about the people around me.

“So, in that sense, that was a good thing about the tour.”