Not perfect, but Ackermann proud of Bulls fight in Galway

Defence has been a massive talking point in the Vodacom Bulls realm this season, even though it is only four rounds old, but the team management feel they have made enough strides forward to warrant some confidence after their narrow win over Connacht on Friday night.

The team head to Glasgow this weekend, looking for a repeat win against the Warriors and a repeat performance of their defensive effort.

While it would be easy to point out that Connacht scored four tries and got close to the Bulls on the scoreboard in the end, and could have sneaked home had their kicking been better, this Bulls side is still a work in progress, and they had a lot of control for most of the game, despite not having the ball.

Coach Johan Ackermann is on a steep learning curve, especially as his side have had no real pre-season to speak of, no games and a host of injuries to deal with, as well as trying to use their Springboks for the limited time they have them.

236 TACKLES

On Friday night they put together no less than 236 tackles - a monumental effort given this side had shipped 14 tries against them in their previous three games, and saw a defensive stat where 13 of the side made more than 10 tackles - the norm for a good defensive game for any player.

Connacht are - as Ackermann rightly points out - the team that have the most ball in play minutes with them and put together an astounding amount of phases, and yet, the Bulls repelled many of them with ease.

Some of the tries were against the run of play and often a team learns more about winning the hard way away from home. But still, there was bound to be a lot of relief after that game against the Irish team.

Ackermann pronounced himself extremely proud of the effort, and knows that the team need to build on moments like these if they are to be in the fight when the playoffs come around.

“That's the part that I'm very pleased and proud of, is the character that the team showed. That was basically the challenge to the team, to say, we've got a team that is really playing to inspire the supporters and the people they represent. The way we can show that is by putting out a good performance, and especially when we defend, and the guys did that.

NOT PERFECT

“It wasn't perfect. You know, there are still work-ons, individual work-ons, as well as system work-ons. But it's a massive step up, and the players just showed to themselves what they can do.

“I'm proud of every player that went on that field last night, and as well as those individual efforts, just, you know, the back row, the locks, everybody. It's hard to mention everybody individually, but everybody got through a lot of work, and that's the part that I'm proud of.”

Ackermann was also proud of the captaincy of 22-year old Reinhardt Ludwig, who led the team well despite only his second game back from injury.

“Ruan (Nortje) is there, as is Marcel (Coetzee), and there are a lot of senior players. But he led so well in the match. I only worked with him for a few weeks, because he was injured for a large part of the pre-season and only came back from rehab recently. It was a bit more pressure than we wanted, but again it is typical of him and the kind of person he is.

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“He’s definitely a born leader, talks well to the team, motivates them and is always positive, and he played extremely well as well. So that means a lot, as you said, to show his calmness in a big, tight match. That's what's nice, that there are guys who can solve each other's problems, who can help each other, and support each other. That's great for where we are now, and it's great for his development as captain.

“Because I think he made really good decisions.”

IMPORTANT FOR SELF BELIEF

Ackermann added that the victory, even the way it was achieved, was important for the self-belief of the group and the mood in the squad.

Yeah, I think it's just important for the mood of the group, for the belief that we trust the system, we trust the squad. We made changes, but the players that came in and grabbed the opportunity, they played well.

“So that means there's healthy competition, everybody is understanding what we want to achieve, and we're still growing in the way we want to play. That's great for us as a team, as a group, and it's not going to get easier.

“Glasgow is a world-class team, well-coached and with a host of internationals, so we're obviously going to make a few changes again, but that's what we're going to need this whole season. It's not about one individual or two players, it's about the whole squad, putting up their hands when they get the jersey to play for the team.”

The Bulls will name their side for the clash on Wednesday.