The Vodacom Bulls’ win over Benetton, which secured a home Vodacom URC quarter-final, may have come at a cost after a key player suffered a foot injury.
Coach Johan Ackermann said No 8 Cameron Hanekom was the biggest fitness concern following the 45-19 victory.
“We have to scan on Monday and make sure it’s not serious because his foot is obviously sore now,” Ackermann said.
“In the assessment before the game, everybody, including Cameron himself, felt he could play, so that’s why we didn’t make a change.
“But he’s a bit sore now, so we just have to make sure there’s no damage.”
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Ackermann said there were also a few other injury niggles, although he expected most players to recover during the week’s break.
“Ruan [Nortjé] has a little ankle twist and Canan [Moodie] took a knock on the shoulder, but hopefully with the week off they’ll be fine,” he said.
While pleased with the result and five-point log haul which ensured their place in the top four, Ackermann admitted the Bulls produced too many “soft moments” that allowed Benetton back into the game.
“I thought we started well and that probably saved us,” he said. “Then we started making silly mistakes and suddenly the momentum kept swinging.
“At one stage it was only seven points, but credit to the players because they found a way to squeeze the opposition out.”
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Ackermann warned those lapses could prove costly in knockout rugby.
“If you get momentum swings like that in a playoff game, you probably don’t recover,” he said. “Those are the parts we have to fix.”
The Bulls coach was also frustrated by the officiating at scrum time, despite his side clearly dominating the set-piece.
“I felt the second half specifically was inconsistent,” Ackermann said. “If that scrum from Wilco [Louw] isn’t dominance, then I don’t know what is. He was scrumming the guy all the way backwards.
“There were free-kicks where we clearly had dominance, so that was frustrating. But we also have to adapt to what the referee sees.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
