JOHANNESBURG - The Blue Bulls have no one to blame but themselves for their error riddled 26-10 loss against the Sharks in Durban.
The men from the capital had travelled to Durban in the hope of giving their title aspirations a major boost in the Currie Cup after winning their first game against the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein. But it seems that their overzealousness and desperation to get a second away win got the better of them along with a strong defence from the Sharks.
Blue Bulls coach Pote Human was just as irritated with his team’s many handling errors but says he remains optimistic ahead of their first home game against the Golden Lions on Saturday.
“I think we played some good rugby in patches but we made too many mistakes. There was just too many handling errors, missed tackles and stuff. We are still very much positive.” said Human.
“The players will take responsibility for the loss and they have already said that it is not our standards and they will work on it this week. We have the Lions this week and they put up a big score against the Griquas so it is going to be a huge game at Loftus this week.”
Over and above the glaring poor handling by his team, Human wants his charges to show an all-round improvement - citing a need for them to establish their dominance in the lineouts and scrums: “Our lineouts can still be much better and our discipline in the scrums as well. We must also look at our handling errors and improve that.”
Bulls captain Hanro Liebenberg concurred with Human about the handling errors as something that proved costly and that they will need to rectify this ahead of their trans Jukskei River derby against the Lions.
“It was a very frustrating game for me. I think the frustration crept in when we started losing balls at regular times. When we have the ball we are good and it is something that we must focus on,” said Liebenberg.
Liebenberg doesn’t think his side will need to re-invent the wheel in order to return to winning ways and insists on them sticking to the structures and game-plan which can work if they manage limit their mistakes especially their handling errors.
“I don’t think we have to do anything different except catching the ball. We just need to stick to our structures and do what we do best and then the results will come,” added Liebenberg.