Vodacom Bulls coach Johan Ackermann was encouraged by how his side managed momentum swings against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Bulls raced into a 22-0 half-time lead and although the Sharks fought back to narrow the deficit to 10 points in the second half, the home side finished strongly to seal a 41-12 Vodacom URC victory with seven tries.
For Ackermann, the most pleasing aspect was the Bulls’ composure when the Sharks threatened to get right back into the match.
“We exited really well every time the Sharks came at us. When it went 22-5, 22-12 and it looked like they might get the next score and really make a game of it, we showed composure.
“We exited well, and when we got the opportunity to score, we scored and took the momentum away from them.
“If you think back to earlier games, we had leads and once the opposition got momentum we let it roll over us. So we showed a lot of composure.”
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The match itself was delayed by 15 minutes due to lightning and torrential rain, but Ackermann said his side handled the disruption well.
“It’s always challenging, but luckily it was for both teams,” he said.
“When we saw the lightning and the rain, we thought the delay might be longer. Once they confirmed it was only going to be 15 minutes, we just adjusted our routine. The players waited, then we followed the same warm-up process.
“We thought it might rain during the game and that we’d have to adapt tactically, but once it cleared up we stuck to what we wanted to do. There were one or two small adjustments, but not much.”
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While the Sharks made a plethora of handling errors, the Bulls managed to keep mistakes to a minimum.
“I felt the players worked really hard on reducing those errors,” Ackermann said. “Even though it rained, it dried up enough for us to play the game we wanted to play.”
The result keeps the Bulls firmly in the URC playoff mix as they remain eighth on the log, with their next outing against the Stormers at Loftus on 14 March.
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Despite the emphatic nature of the victory, Ackermann was quick to stress perspective.
“You must cherish a win and be grateful, and tomorrow you’ll wake up with a smile,” he said. “But success is written in ice – tomorrow the sun shines again.
“It gives us confidence and belief, but the next game brings different challenges and you have to do everything all over again.
“We haven’t achieved anything, to be honest. A good win is only as good as where your season finishes. We just have to knuckle down and keep fighting.”
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
