If there is one thing outside of the rugby field that the Bulls have deliberately not done and that is to have a look at the Super Rugby log.
In the same way they have avoided playing good rugby and all but allowed themselves to be bullied around at Loftus Versfeld in the past two weeks, the Bulls will want to avoid looking at the log which paints a grim picture of how the season has unravelled so far.
However, there can be no running away from the reality that the Bulls start to this year’s Super Rugby has been disastrous and besides the glaring fact of losing two home games against the Stormers and Hurricanes, it has been the poor standard of rugby dished out by the team that has to be of concern.
There has been an admission from the Bulls management that things have not gone according to plan and that they will continue to work hard at fixing the problems.
But even more startling after the Hurricanes loss is Bulls captain Pierre Spies insistence that the team remains on the right track and that change must happen through the players collectively taking responsibility for the two losses.
Spies strongly believes that the Bulls will recover from their bad start even as soon as this week’s derby against the Sharks at Loftus and go on to have a good season.
“You need every bounce you can get but at the same time you don’t want to depend on it. You want to make sure that what you want to achieve you do well and currently I don’t think we are getting there,” said Spies.
“We believe that we are on the right track.
“The players know that we’ve got to step it up, we are much better than this. Come next week hopefully we get a better performance.”
Far beyond the acknowledgement of the poor start the have probably lost their biggest weapon at home and that being their die-hard fans who have not only shown their disapproval of the team’s performance by staying away from the stadium but their belief in the team has also seemingly evaded them in the same way winning has their team.
Spies, though, remains optimistic that his team will rise again and that it is in such tough times that the team becomes stronger and will be better for it.
As much as the Bulls possess one of the most talented teams in the competition, the reality is that they are not playing the brand of rugby that can unleash the potential of star individuals and the team as a collective.
The Bulls must first accept that they have been nowhere in the past two weeks, fix their scrum, line-out and attention to the breakdown.
Attention must also be given to the sterile attack which has only shown glimpses of brilliance but then quickly retreats back to dinosaur mode.
“In fact I think this can enforce the belief of the team, I think it can pull the team together.
“You only learn in tough times and that is where we are now after two losses at home. In 2007 we started with two losses and went on to have a very good season.
“We don’t dwell on the past and we know that we are a good team which has worked hard and we know that it will come together,” Spies said.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke could offer nothing more besides stating the obvious and instead has urged his team to keep working hard even at the things that aren’t working.
“Last week there were some areas that were better but still not good enough. Our efforts must be more accurate and there must be more urgency. We’ll keep going. All we need is that first win and suddenly everything starts working. We are positive, we must keep our heads down and it’s a long season ahead and a tough competition.
“Hopefully next week we put together a 80 minute effort that can give us a result,” said Ludeke. - The Star