Marais in no mood to surrender

Under fire Bulls head coach Nollis Marais is keen to continue in his role and put his side's disastrous performance against the Crusaders to bed.

The Pretoria-based outfit's 62-24 loss to the tournament's pace-setters was their biggest ever home defeat in Super Rugby history.

The result means the three-time champions have won just three of their nine matches so far this season and despite being second on the Africa 1 Conference table, they are 12 points adrift of the Stormers who have played 10 matches.

Marais put on a brave face when asked if he would continue in his job.

"I cannot make a decision," he told journalists after his side's loss on Saturday.

"I think there are two types of coaches in life. One that has been fired and one that is going to be fired. So that is my belief. The only thing I can do now is focus on getting the team ready.

"I know there are a lot of unhappy people out there and I accept it. I am not running away from it. Whatever happens, that is a board decision. If the Board don’t feel I am up for it, I will respect that decision. 

"It will not be nice, but there are two coaches in life, one that is fired and one that is going to get fired."

Marais took full responsibilty for his side's defeat but said the team's reaction to the result was important.

"It depends how you look at it," he added.

"Obviously the defeat is not good but you have two choices in life. Either you stand up and fight or you sit in the corner and let everyone kick you.

"They have a choice as a team to stand up and fight for the next game, and come out and fight. We aren’t going to sit in a corner. We are going to feel the pain.

"Obviously we’ve dropped everybody but we need to be up for it tomorrow. That is Super Rugby. But you have two choices in life – and you have to choose one of them."