Former Bulls and Springbok winger Akona Ndungane feels that the coronavirus-enforced stoppage of Super Rugby has come in very hand for his former side, as they have not only been afforded some respite on the field but also an opportunity to make much-needed changes at the franchise.
Since the southern hemisphere competition’s break in March as a result of the pandemic, the Pretoria-based side has made a number of major announcements, not least that of the acquisition of former World Cup-winning Springbok coach Jake White as new director of rugby and Springbok players such as Marcel van der Merwe and Gio Aplon, while forwards Arno Botha and Walt Steenkamp have also been signed.
The Bulls have also lost Springbok utility back Warrick Gelant to southern rivals the Stormers in the process, though, although he has since been swiftly replaced by another returnee son Travis Ismaiel, whose re-signing on a two-year-deal was reported earlier on Monday.
Ndungane says the changes were very necessary for the Bulls, especially after having a rather uninspiring start to the 2020 Super Rugby season under the tutelage of former coach Pote Human, who managed to guide the team to just one win out of their opening six fixtures before the season was halted.
“It was definitely tough and I think changes needed to be made. I think the lockdown has also helped a bit because at least now we saw the changes that are happening there. I think it was a change that was inevitable that it might happen, and I think it came at a good time. I think the way things were going, the Bulls didn’t look like they were going to do anything different; I don’t think there were going to win any games on tour, judging by the way they had started. So that change needed to happen and I think the lockdown helped.”
The tour that Ndungane refers to is that of Australasia, which was truncated by the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March. The Bulls had indeed not started it well, going down 41-17 to the Reds in Brisbane, Australia ahead of matches against the Waratahs (also in Australia), the Hurricanes and the Chiefs in New Zealand.
The loss against the Reds was their fifth of the season, which didn’t do much to help their chances of making the playoffs as they were still sitting just above bottom side the Lions on the South African conference log, with just a single point being the difference between the two sides.
The Bulls had suffered two of those losses at home, Loftus Versfeld, which Ndungane believes is the root of the problem.
“For me what was disappointing was the games they lost at home, against the Jaguares (and the Blues). We all know that when you play at home, you always try and go for the win and Loftus used to be a place where most teams would struggle to go and get a win there. But now it just felt like everyone that goes to Loftus tries and pushes the Bulls and tries (to) go for the win.”
*Cover image: ultimaterugby.com.
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