JOHANNESBURG – Bulls vice-captain Handré Pollard says the coaching instability at the Pretoria franchise has not been ideal but he does not expect drastic changes under coach Pote Human.
The Bulls have had three seasons of different coaching with the departures of head coaches Nollis Marais and John Mitchell.
“It is always a challenge when it gets to that, every coach has their own ideas, but I must say Pote has been really open-minded about everything,” Pollard said. “He has given us a lot of responsibility so we carry a lot of last year’s stuff over with minor adjustments here and there, but there won’t be a lot of changes.”
Pollard says the acquisition of world-class players such as Duane Vermeulen, Schalk Brits and Rosko Specman will boost the Bulls' chances of ending their title drought at Loftus Versfeld.
But the Springbok flyhalf was under no illusions that merely fortifying their stocks would bring instant success in this year’s Super Rugby campaign.
“It definitely helps with guys like Duane and Schalla (Brits) coming in but you still have to do the job; it is the toughest (rugby) competition in the world,” Pollard said.
“Whether you are a Springbok or not, Super Rugby doesn’t care about that. You’ve got to be on song every weekend and prepare very well.
“We will try our best over the coming weeks to be as prepared as we can with the limited time we have, but then you have to pitch up every weekend,” Pollard said.
Pote Human has given his players a lot of responsibilities. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Meanwhile, Human has added another new face to his backroom staff with Cheetahs scrum coach Daan Human conducting his first session with the Bulls yesterday.
The Bulls said that the Bok prop would be co-opted into their coaching staff in a unique first for SA rugby.
“Human (Daan) will assist the Bulls as scrum coach in the Super Rugby tournament two days every week, the remainder of the period he will spend with the Cheetahs in their PRO14 campaign,” the Bulls said in a statement.
Pote Human said securing the scrum specialist’s services was a major coup for the Bulls.