The Bulls are still not getting ahead of themselves despite back-to-back wins – just their second in the season since the opening two weeks of the United Rugby Championship three months ago.
The Bulls ended their seven-match losing streak with a nail-biting 26-24 win over Pau in France last week, and then followed it up with another two-point victory (19-17) over Edinburgh in Scotland on Friday night.
The win lifted the Bulls from 11th to ninth on the URC log. But they are still 19 points off table-toppers Glasgow Warriors.
First win in Edinburgh
Their first-ever win in Edinburgh came courtesy of a strong second-half performance at Hive Stadium. The Bulls came back from a 17–5 deficit at the break to win the territory battle, pegging Edinburgh in their own half.
The Bulls scored two tries to add to their solitary first-half score, and defended their slim lead when Edinburgh were on the attack for the final 10 minutes.
The only dampers were concussions suffered by Cheswill Jooste and Sebastian de Klerk, the latter being taken off on a stretcher.
Head coach Johan Ackermann said the players were on their feet and looking good the next day, but head-impact assessment protocols would keep them out of next week’s huge clash with the Lions at Ellis Park.
Bulls coach: ‘They are only two wins’
“It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it,” Ackermann said of the win.
“The mood is really good and positive at the moment. But a lot of work still needs to be done. Again, it’s only another game that we got [and] there’s a lot of rugby left this season.
“We will take confidence, but they are only two wins. It’s nothing to get carried away with.”
He said the Bulls would spend much of the weekend travelling back to South Africa, thanks to a long flight and layover. They would also need time to rest before the Lions match, as not everyone sleeps well on a plane.
“We have a full week but we have to use it well for recovery. There are a lot of sore bodies,” the coach said.
“The artificial pitch causes a lot of cuts, bruises and stitches. We have to get the bodies fresh for a massive challenge next week.”
He said if they could field a fit team and put in a good performance against the Lions, they would enter the February break with some confidence.
