Cape Town - Blue Bulls captain Deon Stegmann says there are "light-years" between where they are now compared to the beginning of the Currie Cup.
The Bulls had a slow start to their Currie Cup campaign, losing three of their first four games. It included heavy away losses to the Golden Lions (41-13) and Western Province (41-17) but they appeared to have found their feet in recent times.
They claimed a vital away victory (31-22) over the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last week and still have a chance at making the semi-finals.
"There's no doubt we have improved," Stegmann told Beeld.
"Initially, the players believed in a plan, but maybe we didn't put out heart and souls into it. We now have a greater understanding of how we want to play and the guys showed it (against the Cheetahs)."
The Bulls tackle the Pumas in Nelspruit this Friday (19:00 kick-off). Their final round-robin game is at home to Griquas the following week.
Teams:
Pumas:
15 JW Bell, 14 Ruwellyn Isbell, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Reynier van Rooyen, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Jaco Bouwer, 6 Corné Steenkamp (captain), 5 Giant Mtyanda, 4 Marius Coetzer, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Frankie Herne, 1 Corne Fourie
Substituteds: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 DeJay Terblanche, 18 Uzair Cassiem, 19 RW Kember, 20 Dylon Frylinck, 21 Coenie van Wyk, 22 Jerome Pretorius
Blue Bulls:
15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Rudy Paige,, 8 Jono Ross, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Morné Mellet, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Wiaan Liebenberg, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Tian Schoeman, 22 Jesse Kriel
The Bulls had a slow start to their Currie Cup campaign, losing three of their first four games. It included heavy away losses to the Golden Lions (41-13) and Western Province (41-17) but they appeared to have found their feet in recent times.
They claimed a vital away victory (31-22) over the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last week and still have a chance at making the semi-finals.
"There's no doubt we have improved," Stegmann told Beeld.
"Initially, the players believed in a plan, but maybe we didn't put out heart and souls into it. We now have a greater understanding of how we want to play and the guys showed it (against the Cheetahs)."
The Bulls tackle the Pumas in Nelspruit this Friday (19:00 kick-off). Their final round-robin game is at home to Griquas the following week.
Teams:
Pumas:
15 JW Bell, 14 Ruwellyn Isbell, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Reynier van Rooyen, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Jaco Bouwer, 6 Corné Steenkamp (captain), 5 Giant Mtyanda, 4 Marius Coetzer, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Frankie Herne, 1 Corne Fourie
Substituteds: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 DeJay Terblanche, 18 Uzair Cassiem, 19 RW Kember, 20 Dylon Frylinck, 21 Coenie van Wyk, 22 Jerome Pretorius
Blue Bulls:
15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Rudy Paige,, 8 Jono Ross, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Morné Mellet, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Wiaan Liebenberg, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Tian Schoeman, 22 Jesse Kriel