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Pretoria - Bulls captain Adriaan Strauss was making no excuses following his side's shock 21-20 loss to the Sunwolves in Tokyo on Saturday, acknowledging afterwards that they had simply been outplayed.
The Japanese-based outfit, in just their second season of Super Rugby, secured their first ever win over South African opposition in a result that has left the Bulls red-faced and with just one win from six in 2017.
"The Sunwolves outplayed us for most of the game. Tactically they were very good and physically they were up for it," Strauss said afterwards.
"They played some attractive rugby and held onto
the ball. Japanese rugby is really growing. Guys are getting better every week
with every game that they play."
Strauss said he was happy with the work the Bulls did at set piece, but he said they struggled from a game management perspective and that they made far too many errors.
"We
were under a lot of pressure. The instructions during the week were that we
firstly needed to get the territory and then secure the possession and apply
pressure ... but we didn't do that," he said.
"We
didn't play constructive rugby, especially in the first half, and the Sunwolves
punished us.
"They've
got a great ability to hold onto the ball and stretch you out wide. But they
also showed today that they've got a great ability to play some tactical
rugby."
The Bulls now return to South Africa where four successive fixtures at Loftus await. They take on the Jaguares this weekend.
