Johan Ackermann said the Bulls ‘took that little bit of flame’ away from the Sharks when they found momentum.
The Bulls ended their three-match losing run at home with a scintillating backline performance accompanied by resilient forward defence against the Sharks on Saturday.
Their emphatic 41-12 win over the Durban union at Loftus Versfeld ensured the visitors could not win back-to-back United Rugby Championship (URC) South African Shields.
Instead, the Lions won the title for the first time after surging up the table with victories over the Sharks and Stormers in the past two weeks.
The Bulls will be satisfied they held onto their place in the top eight after the bonus-point win.
Especially so after captain Marcell Coetzee said in the build-up that they wished to restore their ‘Loftus fortress’ tag after successive home defeats to the Lions, Union Bordeaux Bègles and Bristol Bears.
‘Took that little bit of flame away’
All seven tries came from the backline, speedsters capitalising on kick-and-chases and cross-kicks against a Sharks defence that had no answers.
The first try epitomised this. Canan Moodie chased his own kick, grounding after two Sharks players fell over each other while scrambling after a tricky bounce.
In the end, Sebastian de Klerk, Embrose Papier (two), Harold Vorster (two) and Paul de Wet added to the tally.
The Sharks responded from being 22-0 down at the break with two early tries in the second half.
The Bulls’ defence held against the determined attack before their backline shut the Sharks down in the final quarter.
“When they got momentum, and it went 22-5, then 22-10, the next score would make a game of it again. We showed the composure to first of all exit well, and then when we got the opportunity to score, we scored,” said Bulls coach Johan Ackermann, who added that in previous matches the Bulls had forfeited their lead easily.
“We took that little bit of flame that they started to get away from them.”
Bulls still have a long way to go
He said he was grateful for the win but the Bulls could not get carried away. They had failed at home repeatedly during the first half of the season and needed to make up for it in the business end.
“This is just basically the next step, that is all… we must keep taking it week by week.”
Still, the Bulls coach applauded his assistant coaches and players on working on their skillsets, making fewer handling errors than the Sharks on the day.
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