VIDEO: Bok hooker's killer blow message

SPOTLIGHT: The Bulls will have to develop a killer instinct if they want to be considered real title contenders in the United Rugby Championship this season.

They are currently sitting in third position in the standings with seven wins from 10 outings, but there has been a worrying trend with their performances recently.

The Bulls tend to let teams “in through the back door” during games when they should be trying to land the killer blow.

Last weekend, they failed to take advantage of the Sharks’ ill-discipline, which included three yellow cards.

Jake White’s side eventually fell to a 19-29 defeat.

A week before that, they allowed the Stormers to stay in touch despite dominating large periods of the game, and it was only a missed conversion from replacement Clayton Blommetjies that allowed the Bulls to walk away with a narrow 33-32 win.

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“It is something we have spoken about,” said Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar.

“We have picked it up. When you are on top, you have to bury them, and I think we haven’t done that well enough in the last couple of weeks.

“It’s just about keeping focus and not letting them in through the back door at the end of the game. We saw it in the Final [against Glasgow Warriors] last year as well.

“Whether it’s people coming off the bench or whether it’s a lack of concentration, it’s something we have to fix going forward in this competition.”

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The Bulls will also be looking to take advantage of their dominance in the scrums, but they might find it a bit tougher this week against the Lions in Pretoria.

“The game starts with the scrums, line-outs and mauls,” Grobbelaar added.

“It’s an important factor for us and it has always been an important factor here at the Bulls.

“We pride ourselves in that and it has been good at scrum time in the last couple of weeks.

“The credit goes to the props and it makes my job easier going forward to hook the ball.

“I think we can step up when it comes to playing with that advantage and not just throw the ball away after a scrum penalty.

“We can convert much better after the positive metres we made from the scrums.”

By Warren Fortune and Annemie Bester

@rugby365com