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Johannesburg - They may be happy that they accomplished their mission by securing a 24-20 win over the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday, but the Bulls are by no means satisfied with their performance on the night, captain Victor Matfield said after his men fought off a brave comeback from the home side.
“We knew it was going to be tough away from home, and naturally there is still a lot of work to be done and we know that,” said Matfield.
“We are happy, and we will take an away win on any day.”
For the majority of the Bulls' players it was only their second taste of action this year – their only other match practice being a friendly against a Premier XV invitational squad.
However, when looking at their performance in the first 40 minutes, there were several positives that the men from Pretoria will take from the match.
The defending champions showed they have two of the fastest wings in the country at their disposal, their set-pieces looked solid, and their talisman – Super Rugby centurion Fourie du Preez – is only a few matches away from being back at his very best.
Matfield said his team’s discipline was not up to scratch in the second half but also complimented the Lions on their never-say-die die attitude.
“I think we made too many mistakes in the second half and we gave the ball back to them the whole time and conceded too many penalties,” the Bulls skipper admitted.
“That allowed them field position and they held on to the ball very well and played well.”
As far as the Lions' fight back is concerned, he said that it was something they anticipated.
“We always knew they were going to come back and coach (Frans Ludeke) said during the week that they are a side that really fights for 80 minutes, especially in the Currie Cup, they showed that and there is a big hype around them at the moment.”
Other mid-week analysis that paid dividends on the night had to do with the monster of a try wing Gerhard van den Heever scored.
“We spoke about (Elton) Jantjies and his chip kicks during the week and I made sure that I covered that,” Van den Heever said when asked to give account of his 60 metre run-in.
“From there, a gap opened up in midfield after the ruck had moved and I took from there,” he added.
Ludeke shared the views of the team’s captain, but was slightly disappointed that they let a few chances slip thought their fingers.
“In the first half we were very clinical and played in the right areas while keeping the ball well and I think were unfortunate not to have scored one or two more tries,” said Ludeke.
“In the second half, like Victor said, we made too many errors and started losing momentum which allowed them back into the game and they played good rugby.”
The Bulls travel to Bloemfontein on Friday where they will take on the Cheetahs who lost their opening match 24-9 to the Sharks.
The only serious injury concern for the Bulls is that of Gary Botha who left the field with a shoulder injury in the 26th minute.
