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Bulls not making excuses

JJ Harmse

Pretoria – “No excuses, we had our chances.”

That was the reaction of Bulls coach Frans Ludeke following his side’s defeat to the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday.

The Bulls came close in the tense closing minutes, but could not apply the finishing touches and were beaten 19-12.

“We had a chance toward the end of the game. We just had to keep on trying because a win was not beyond us. We were in the right part of the field and, had we scored, they would have kicked off and we would have been able to hold onto the ball and play out the time. However, we were not patient enough.”

Ludeke was still satisfied with his team’s performance and with how the tour went.

“We produced a huge defensive performance. I’m very proud of that, but it probably caught up with us in those final minutes. But we still kept on fighting to the end and a coach cannot ask for more.”

The visitors started the scoring by launching a counter-attack from deep inside their own territory and Derick Kuün scored after several players had handled the ball.

“That try shows what we are capable of. We have the ability to score any kind of try. It was a fantastic effort,” said the coach.

As far as the 10 of a possible 20 league points on tour are concerned, Ludeke said: “We feel the tour was a success. Saturday was a good effort and three of the next four games are at home. We are in a favourable position on the log.”

Ludeke, who travelled home from Sydney via Brisbane with the team on Sunday, believes player management will be important this week as they are in for a tough derby match against the Lions.

“We’ll have to give the guys a good chance to recover from the travel. The Lions won’t be easy opponents and we’ll have to be at our best,” he said.

Ludeke will be able to strengthen the side with returning players, giving him the opportunity to rest some of his regular players.

Akona Ndungane is available, but is likely to play another Vodacom Cup match. Jaco Pretorius, though, is likely to run out against his former team-mates. Pretorius’s attacking ability was missed in the Bulls’ midfield against the Reds.

He and utility back Jaco van der Westhuyzen returned to South Africa a week ago and are likely to be a lot fresher at Monday’s training session than their team-mates.

Bakkies Botha will also be at the training session. He will be re-introduced to the action gradually and the aim is for him to operate at his peak come the matches against the Crusaders and Stormers.
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