A different beast awaits Benetton in Pretoria
SPOTLIGHT: Benetton will be up against a different beast in Pretoria this weekend than the one that they faced in last year’s Rainbow Cup Final.
The Italian side dismantled the Bulls for a convincing 35-8 win in that Final and it is still fresh in the minds of the Bulls’ players and coaching staff.
Ahead of their meeting in the United Rugby Championship this weekend, Bulls assistant coach Nollis Marais said that the Final was a wake-up call they needed ahead of their URC campaign.
“For two years we played local sides and we saw the same picture every week in terms of breakdowns and attack,” said Marais.
“Now you play in the Rainbow Cup [Final]. You fly in on a Monday and it’s the first time we are playing an overseas side and they bring you a different picture at the breakdown to what you are used to.
“That is where we said: ‘It doesn’t matter what level we are on at breakdowns; we are behind the European sides because they play each other every week’.
“We needed to adapt very quickly to that. We were definitely lacking in the breakdowns.”
When you kick, the ball will fly
And you create another try
That’s a MORNE 🔥 🎶We can’t wait to “welcome” Benetton to Loftus this Saturday 😏@Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/4JvxmiGoU5
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Marais, who is the Bulls’ breakdown specialist, said playing against the top teams in the URC has helped them adapt to the European game.
“At one stage we were not good at ball carries and now we are one of the top sides in that area, so it’s getting better,” said Marais.
“Our breakdown is getting better, so I think it’s something where we made a huge step up.
“Even at the beginning of the URC, we made a huge step up.”
He added: “The first game that we played in the URC was two weeks after a Currie Cup Final. We had to play Leinster in Dublin and 14 of their players were in the Irish side.
“The first thing we realised was that our reaction speed to the breakdowns was not nearly as quick as theirs.
“So, that was the first thing that we had to work on. Everything we had to do, the reaction speed had to be better.
“Then there were small little technique things that we could see that they did better than us and that was something that we needed to implement better on our side.
“The last one was refereeing interpretations. We had to adapt very quickly to what the overseas ref would interpret as legal and what is not legal at the breakdown.”
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