After a six-game winning streak, the Bulls came back to earth with a thump against Leinster in Dublin last week.
But co-captain Marcell Coetzee has urged his team to put that 47-14 defeat behind them if they hope to beat Lyon in tomorrow’s Champions Cup last-16 play-off at Loftus Versfeld (1.30pm kick-off).
The Pretoria side actually made a strong start at the RDS Arena last Friday, particularly in the scrums, and led 14-12 at half-time.
But it all went pear-shaped in the second half as the experience off the bench saw the Irish province score a few quick tries to end the match as a contest.
So, the Bulls have been warned sufficiently that they can’t afford to switch off after half-time against Lyon.
“The whole week’s preparation going into Lyon is to learn from your mistakes, what you didn’t do in the second half (against Leinster) particularly. Look at yourself and get yourself up. That was the leadership’s task this week, to get the boys up. This is not going to be an easy game. We don’t have time to sit and be sad,” Coetzee said yesterday.
“If you take the tour as a whole, it was a very good first week. We got five points, which is never easy. We didn’t play our best rugby against Leinster, particularly in the second half.
“We went out to measure ourselves, and I think we did it very well in the first half. But I think the second half, with the experience that they had, they were better than us. We have to be humble about that.”
But there is no doubt that the Bulls are a far superior team at their Loftus home, where the familiar conditions and atmosphere sees them playing a free-flowing, attacking style of rugby.
However, tomorrow’s clash is a knockout game, and Coetzee admitted that the Bulls may be a bit more conservative as a result.
But when you’ve got strike-runners and playmakers such as Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Willie le Roux and Embrose Papier in your backline, you can’t go totally into your shell.
The Bulls have the forwards to secure enough possession up front, where the likes of Gerhard Steenekamp and Wilco Louw can dominate in the scrums, and locks Ruan Vermaak and co-captain Ruan Nortjé can control the line-outs.
See you on Saturday for more of this 👆🔥
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) April 4, 2024
🏉 Vodacom Bulls vs Lyon
🏆 The first Champions Cup Play-off game at Loftus
🗓️ 06 April 2024
📍 Loftus Versfeld
⏰ Kick-Off 13:30
🎟️ TICKETS: https://t.co/9q6tX9Op3k @Vodacom @ChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/dWOekzpZWe
Lyon clinched a 29-28 win in their previous encounter in France in December, where a young Bulls outfit led by Coetzee almost produced a memorable victory.
“The fact that you are not playing for log points to try to get a home play-off now – we controlled what we could in the previous matches,” Coetzee said.
“We are thankful for a play-off game at Loftus, and you just have to win to get to the next round. On the day, when you usually think of kicking out to try to go for the bonus point, now you know as a captain that you can go for the points (with a kick at goal).
“So, you may go into this game a bit more conservatively, where your mindset is just to win. But there are many things you have to do first to get to that point – get our set pieces right, follow our processes, and then it will come.
“When we have to go slower, we can – and when we need to spread the ball quickly, with the dangerous players that we have in Kurt-Lee and Willie, Canan, Devon Williams, all those players ... you must be able to use them.
“Our strong point over the years has been the forwards, but what we are getting right now is a good combination of both (forwards and backs) – it’s now just about when (to have a go), depending on where you are on the field.”