Defence and character key to Bulls win

The Bulls' coaching staff lauded their team's defence and character against the Stormers, saying it was instrumental in their team's hard-fought 16-9 victory.

The Bulls' coaching staff lauded their team's defence and character against the Stormers, saying it saying it was instrumental in their team's hard-fought 16-9 victory.

The Bulls' match against the Stormers was the fifth match on the weekend and that gave the players as well as the coaching staff a good idea of what to expect from the referees in terms of the Experimental Law Variations. (ELVs).

The coaching staff of the defending champions told the Bulls official website about their thoughts of the game.

Head coach, Frans Ludeke was extremely happy with his team.

“It was wonderful to start the Super 14 with an away win, especially after our wobbly first half.

“We were under pressure in the first 40 minutes and we made a lot of mistakes but in the second half our defence and character won us the game.

I think our mind set, especially in the loose, was excellent and it was good to see that we were so competitive on the ground,” he said.

Pote Human, the forwards coach was especially pleased with the way hooker, Derick Kuün performed.

“We scrummed well on our own ball and it was interesting to note that there were more scrums than lineouts.

I think Derick Kuün did a very good job in his first Super 14 game at hooker and so did Wilhelm Steenkamp.

“In the loose Deon Stegmann was very effective together with Wikus van Heerden and Pedrie Wannenburg and I think our impact players made a difference in the last quarter of the game,” Human went on to say.

Former Stormers left wing, Pieter Rossouw, who has recently joined the Bulls ranks was particularly impressed with his backline's defence.

“There is no doubt in my mind that our defence won us the game.

“I think tactically we played quite well and we managed to turn their forwards on a few occasions.

“We did not spend a lot of time in the Stormers' half and there weren't a lot of attacking opportunities for the backs, but I am glad that Bryan Habana scored when we had the opportunity.

Wynie Strydom, the Bulls enthusiastic manager was equally happy with the result.

“The game in 2006 when we had to beat the Stormers by 33 points to qualify for the semi-finals was for me personally the ultimate, but this win came quite close.

“I think the senior guys in the team and the youngster complimented each other and from a tactical perspective I believe the halfback pairing of Fourie du Preez and Derick Hougaard was the difference between the two teams.

“Fourie was brilliant as captain and I think Wynand Olivier and JP Nel were outstanding in the midfield.

“The game could have gone either way, but I never thought about losing and I think our character came through at the end,” Strydom told thebulls.co.za

The Bulls face a mammoth task on Friday, when they host the in-form Crusaders in Pretoria.