Coach Johan Ackermann says the Vodacom Bulls have to improve their decision-making and execution ahead of the URC quarter-finals.
The Bulls will host Munster on 30 May after beating Benetton 45-19 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Ackermann said. “There were soft moments and small mistakes that compounded pressure on ourselves. Those are the things we have to fix.”
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Ackermann highlighted the Bulls’ execution on attack as a key focus area before facing the 2022-23 URC champions.
“It’s our general skill, finishing and decision-making that we have to focus on.
“You don’t want to give away 14 points through soft moments and poor decision-making,” Ackermann said of a sequence of play where the Bulls went from almost scoring to conceding.
“That’s the part we have to fix because if there’s more pressure on the game, like in a knockout match, it becomes very difficult to recover momentum.
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“Myself and [assistant coach] Neil [de Bruin] want the players to have a go and we’ll never fault a player for trying. But you must make sure you execute. It’s all about execution.
“There were moments where we had four against two, or three against one, and then we kicked instead of passing. Then there were other situations where maybe we should have kicked.
“Those decisions and the execution around them are the areas we need to improve.”
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The Bulls have a week’s break before the quarter-final due to the EPCR finals, with several players set to attend the Springbok alignment camp.
“It’s always nice to play at home and hopefully we can use that to our advantage,” Ackermann said.
“Munster are a quality side with a lot of good internationals. We know we’ll have to lift our standards.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
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