Champions Cup: Bulls focused on what they can control amid nightmare travel schedule

Dylan Coetzee
Champions Cup Zak Burger clears the ball for the Bulls against the Sharks

Bulls scrum-half Zak Burger says his team are looking to focus on their processes to help them navigate the demanding travel schedule.

The men from Pretoria started the year with a trip to Wales to face the Dragons before having to fly back to South Africa and tackle Exeter Chiefs last weekend, followed by a trip to France to face Lyon this weekend.

Adaptability

Despite all the travels, Burger is set on trying to “make the best out of the situation” by focusing on their processes of recovery and training.

“The travelling is not ideal, but we can’t do anything about it so as players, we have to make the best out of the situation,” Burger said.

“When we arrive there, we just have to adapt and start the recovering process immediately and come Friday, just try to deliver a good performance.

“Lyon is going to be difficult at home, but it will certainly be a good match.”

In recent weeks, the Bulls have been struggling with their discipline, copping yellow cards against the Stormers and Sharks in the United Rugby Championship.

However, they were a much better outfit against the Dragons and Exeter Chiefs, which saw them recording wins over both teams.

The Bulls were punished for their ill-discipline at the end of last year as both the Stormers and Sharks put Jake White’s men away.

Burger says improving that has been a focus, and there has been a notable improvement over the last two games.

“We really focussed on our discipline. I think against the Stormers and Sharks, our discipline was not up to standard,” Burger said.

“However the last two games against the Dragons and Exeter Chiefs, we worked on the issue and have improved.

“It is difficult to play with 13 or 14 people, but we really improved in keeping all our players on the field.”

Important clash in Lyon

The Bulls are pushing to finish well in the Champions Cup Pool A table, so they can host at least a last-16 tie at home in Pretoria, making the clash against Lyon massive for the club.

“It’s going to be a massive game. I think there are still four- five points in our group so if we can get the win, it’s going to be huge,” Burger said.

“We want to finish as high as possible on the log and give ourselves the good opportunity to reach the quarterfinals and the semis later and obviously also play a Round of 16 match at Loftus Versfeld.

“Obviously, the ball is in our court, and we must make use of this opportunity.”

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