PRETORIA - Two games and two losses paint a grim picture for the Bulls' start in this year’s Super Rugby competition.
Fortunately for the three- time champions, there is a realisation that they must fix things quickly if they are to fulfil their pre-season billing as one of South Africa’s contenders to make the playoffs.
So what has gone wrong?
Simply put, the Bulls have a dysfunctional scrum and line-out. The problems in the Bulls scrum seem to have been somewhat resolved in the second game against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein and that could have been brought about by the change at loosehead prop with Lizo Gqoboka replacing Pierre Schoeman, but the scrum was far from convincing.
Ahead of Friday night’s game against the Sunwolves at Loftus, Bulls coach Nollis Marais has made another tweak to his frontrow retaining Springbok prop Trevor Nyakane but recalling Schoeman at loosehead and handing Edgar Marutlulle his first start at hooker.
At the line-out, Marais has also made a slight change with Springbok lock Lood de Jager forming a new partnership with Jason Jenkins in the second row with RG Snyman relegated to the bench.
But will the trick work?
“Obviously we had a hard look at ourselves and we had one or two strategic meetings as well,” Marais said following his team’s bye last week.
“We know we are a good side and we were one of the top line-out sides last year. We know we are making mistakes at the moment and we are working hard on it.
“The guys realise that you can’t do anything with the best backs in the world if you don’t have the set-piece, it’s going to be a problem. The guys are working hard at it and we believe it is one or two things we have to fix.”
Marais is optimistic that if they fix the set-piece problems, they will be a potent side especially with the world-class backline they possess.
However, there is a thick line between fantasy and reality and for now the Bulls are living in hope that their problems will dissipate in the two weeks since they last took to the field in Bloemfontein.
Marais understands that beating the Sunwolves won’t be as easy as it should be after the Tokyo-based outfit came close to upsetting the Cheetahs last week.
Another dose of reality for the Bulls will be their standing on the Africa 1 conference log in third place.
Bulls: Warrick Gelant, Travis Ismaiel, Jan Serfontein, Burger Odendaal, Jamba Ulengo, Handre Pollard (captain), Piet van Zyl, Hanro Liebenberg, Renaldo Bothma, Ruan Steenkamp, Lood de Jager, Jason Jenkins, Trevor Nyakane, Edgar Marutlulle, Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: Adriaan Strauss, Lizo Gqoboka, Jacobie Adriaanse, RG Snyman, Jannes Kirsten, Ivan van Zyl, Tian Schoeman, Jesse Kriel
Sunwolves: Shota Emi, Takaaki Nakazuru, Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, Timothy Lafaele, Kenki Fukuoka, Hayden Cripps, Keisuke Uchida, Willie Britz, Shumei Matsuhashi, Ed Quirk (captain), Uwe Helu, Sam Wykes, Yasuo Yamaji, Yusuke Niwai, Koki Yamamoto. Replacements: Atsushi Sakate, Masataka Mikami, Heiichiro Ito, Liaki Moli, Yoshitaka Tokunaga, Kaito Shigeno, Jumpei Ogura, Ryohei Yamanaka