Missed opportunities came back to bite Bulls, says Ackermann

A frustrating inability to take advantage of scoring opportunities came back to bite the Bulls when they were beaten 25-21 by Glasgow Warriors in a hard-fought Investec Champions Cup clash in Scotland, says coach Johan Ackermann.

Life was made tougher for the SA side when they were forced to contend with strong winds and heavy rain during the match as well as pre-match illness in their squad ahead of the last 16 showdown at Scotstoun Stadium.

The Bulls were outscored by four tries to two on a tough day for SA teams in the Champions Cup after the Stormers were eliminated by Toulon earlier on Saturday.

Cutting out defensive errors will be crucial for the Bulls if they want to tame an in-form Glasgow Warriors side in an Investec Champions Cup last 16 clash in Scotland on Saturday, coach Johan Ackermann says. The Bulls are fighting battles on two fronts as they bid to reach the United Rugby Championship playoffs and Champions Cup quarterfinals. Ackermann has named a powerful touring squad for a testing away clash against the URC log-leaders at the Scotstoun Stadium (6.30pm kick-off). “If we’re in the play-offs in the Champions Cup, we must give it a go,” Ackermann said. “The Bulls will give it our best shot against Glasgow, and then we’ll take it from there. “Glasgow are in front of us this week, but we’ll need to be better than we were against Munster in our last outing (the Bulls won 34-31) if we hope to win in Scotland. Glasgow will definitely punish us if we continue to make the defensive errors of the Munster match, so they will be a massive challenge over there “Glasgow will definitely punish us if we continue to make the defensive errors of the Munster match, so they will be a massive challenge over there. “The Warriors are probably the best attacking side in the URC, so we have a big challenge ahead of us, but we’ve got nothing to lose. “We are going to Glasgow and will work hard to give ourselves an opportunity to win. “If we progress, that would be great. “We want to give the Champions Cup a good run. We can’t control what happens after that. When we return to the URC, we’ll have to play our best available team every week because qualification is so tight. “We understand that it is a privilege to play in a Champions Cup Round of 16 match. “The Bulls are alive in one of the best competitions in the world, so we will give it our best.” The 33-man Bulls touring squad includes 14 Springboks and has a good blend of youth and experience. “We left a lot of points out there against Munster,” Ackermann said. “There were two or three big moments where we could have scored, and we didn’t. “We had a lot of turnovers that we could have turned into really good tries or at least good field position, and we did not utilise that. “Every team has special players who can do something out of nothing, and Embrose Papier showed that against Munster. “When he gets space, Embrose is dangerous, and the same with Cheswil Jooste.” Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee said it had been the team’s goal to target success in both the URC and Champions Cup from the start of the season. “In one of the first meetings with coach Ackermann, he said he wants to challenge in both competitions, and we were not going to lean towards one or the other,” he said. “We jumped on board and are looking forward to this task awaiting us. At this stage of the season, you want to maintain that winning momentum and build on those two victories at Loftus Versfeld, and hopefully that will help with the confidence going into this one. “But as a team, we create opportunities and then we don’t finish them. “We now have the opportunity to progress to the next round of the Champions Cup. “We are fighting in the URC, but we view every game as an opportunity to give our best to progress to the next level. The drive is to be part of this competition and give our best. “The message to the boys is simple. This is an opportunity to grab, and we must make the best of it.” Follow The Herald WhatsApp channel today and stay connected to the stories shaping our world. The Herald

“First of all, I’m extremely proud of the players and the effort they put in,” Ackermann said. “There was a lot of heart. The guys showed strong character.

“It was a challenging week — not as an excuse but we had a lot of players sick early in the week. There were moments that we didn’t know if Harold Vorster or Handre Pollard were going to play. But the guys showed fight, I’m very proud. In tough conditions, we were close to getting the victory.”

Ackermann said hard work lies ahead for his team on the training pitch before they resume their United Rugby Championship campaign with a clash against the Dragons in Newport on April 17.

“We didn’t use all our opportunities in Glasgow’s 22 and unfortunately a few of the kickoffs come to mind where we didn’t exit well and made mistakes. We also gave them soft entries through our discipline when they went offside a few times. That gave them territory and possession.

“Credit to them, they capitalised and scored. When our discipline is better, we’re in the game a lot more. So that is a big thing for us to fix.”

Ackermann said the inclement weather in Glasgow had been tough to negotiate.

“Even the last kickoff, we wanted the ball to roll dead but it didn’t. On an artificial pitch, it often does. It just didn’t go our way.

A gutted Stormers team will switch their focus back to achieving success in the United Rugby Championship after they were edged 28-27 by Toulon in a high-octane Investec Champions Cup last 16 encounter in France on Saturday, coach John Dobson said. The outcome was in the melting pot until the dying moments before the Stormers endured the heartbreak of being denied a try in debatable circumstances at a vibrant Stade Mayol stadium. The Cape side thought they had snatched the game out of the fire, but joy turned to despair when it was ruled the Stormers had been held up over the line following a TMO review. A frustrated Dobson questioned the decision not to award a try to his team after Toulon flank Charles Ollivon, who was on the ground and appeared to be offside, prevented lock Adre Smith from scoring. “I was very impressed with the fight shown by the Stormers,” Dobson said. “We needed to score twice with eight minutes to go, and we should never have been in that position. We would’ve loved to have won this game at one of the cathedrals of rugby, but we were maybe not quite good enough in some areas “We would’ve loved to have won this game at one of the cathedrals of rugby, but we were maybe not quite good enough in some areas. “The Stormers didn’t get our usual scrum dominance, and it just seemed to be a bit more of a mess. “But our players mustn’t lose heart – it was still a fantastic performance. Now we have to focus on the URC.” “We had to adapt to some Champions Cup interpretations. “Obviously a bit frustrated at the end there. “Once it goes to the TMO, then maybe you can’t see the grounding, and the on-field decision for some reason is no try. “What’s frustrating for us is that Toulon flank Charles Ollivan is clearly inside the field of play and on the ground. “I believe Adre Smith got it down, but I don’t understand why it wasn’t awarded. “A very frustrating way for the game to end.” Dobson said work needed to be done on the Stormers’ defensive drills ahead of their next URC match against Irish side Connacht at the Cape Town Stadium on April 18. “I think we could have been more accurate around some of our spacing on defence, but we defended really well with heart and physicality. And you can see that Toulon was visibly tiring after some great defensive sets,” he said. “A very big moment would have been after we scored to go ahead and then we really messed up an exit and ended up with them scoring a try, which is one of the worst things in rugby.” Stormers playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu said the option of a drop goal was not considered in the frenetic final moments. “We probably had them in the contest,” he said. “It wasn’t the sort of game that we were looking for a bonus point or needing to win by any sort of points difference. “Upon reflection, I probably could’ve dropped into the pocket, but it’s easier said when things don’t go our way. “I don’t want to make any comments on what I saw (about the disallowed late try), but I think we could have been a lot more fortunate with some of the calls towards the end. “In the one maul I remember seeing JD Schickerling’s feet in the air when he was trying to get the ball to the back of the maul, whatever that means. “Some people thought it was a try (at the end) and some people didn’t. “I think we really got the game plan right. We got a lot of unforced errors out of them. We did well in the kicking game and any scraps that were on the floor. “I think we can be proud of our performance. It’s not the result we want, obviously, but we won’t go out with our heads down.” Follow The Herald WhatsApp channel today and stay connected to the stories shaping our world. The Herald

“I don’t think people understand how tough the conditions were, especially in the second half. We were playing into a very strong wind. At one stage, they kicked the ball and it rolled almost 70m.

“The players had to dig deep to stay in the fight. It’s easy to criticise from afar, but those were tough conditions.

“We obviously stayed in the fight by scoring well, but then at some times we didn’t finish or made mistakes. The defeat hurts but that competition is done. Now we turn our attention to the URC.”

The Border Bulldogs resume their SA Cup campaign determined to banish their poor conditioning when they host Airlink Pumas on Saturday. The match marks the second home clash for the embattled side, as they are still searching for their first win of the season after losing 57-22 to the SWD Eagles at the Hudson Park Stadium in KuGompo City. While the match was preceded by confusion regarding the venue, with two others changed at the eleventh hour until they settled for the high school stadium, the Bulldogs will welcome the Pumas at the intimidating Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, hoping to be buoyed by the partisan crowd. However, concerns still remain over the manner in which they have capitulated in previous matches, including the loss against the Eagles when they could not register a point in the second half. The bad run continued again when they succumbed to fellow struggling side the Leopards in the second half, after holding the North West side to a 14-14 stalemate at the interval in Potchefstroom. They eventually wilted to a 31-14 loss. Coach Dumisani Mhani, who has sidestepped the debate about conditioning, admitted that the side had become a perennial 40-minute team. “We need to stop being a first-half team if we are going to survive in this tournament,” he said. Mhani is believed to have held a meeting with coach Kayleen Dreyer and general manager Mthunzi Hewu to address the issue. Hewu refused to say the meeting focused on conditioning, insisting it was a regular review gathering after each match. “We always hold meetings after each match to analyse them, so it is not correct to say this one focused solely on conditioning,” he said. We have made significant steps towards laying a foundation including securing financial partners, which will address some of the challenges we facing However, Mhani is believed to have identified the poor conditioning of the players as an Achilles heel that negatively affects team performance. Hewu said the capitulation of the team after the break was due to a number of issues, including limited training and poor diet due to a lack of resources. “Remember, we are dealing with players from club level here, and the situation of being semi-professional compared to other teams in the competition often exposes these challenges. “We are in the process of stabilising ourselves since I took over seven months ago. “We have made significant steps towards laying a foundation, including securing financial partners, which will address some of the challenges we are facing.” Hewu said the venue conundrum was in the process of being sorted out, with the Sisa Dukushe Stadium set to host Bulldogs home games, while talks were ongoing to secure a permanent home venue. Mhani welcomed the week’s break, saying it would help the players recover from some of the knocks sustained in previous matches. The Bulldogs are expected to welcome captain Sibusiso Lali, who was absent in the Leopards’ loss due to a family bereavement. The Pumas, who trounced Valke 42-36, are one of the three unbeaten teams in the competition, trailing log leaders Griquas and the Eagles by just three points, after their clash against the Cheetahs was declared a draw when it was called off due to inclement weather. Click here to join the Daily Dispatch’s WhatsApp channel and get the latest news delivered straight to your phone. Daily Dispatch

The first half was hard-fought as both teams threw everything at one another in at times torrential rain. The Bulls ran hard in the opening minutes but were unable to break through the Glasgow defence and the first points on the scoreboard were from a penalty goal by Handre Pollard.

The hosts fought tooth and nail to stamp their authority as the clock wound down and their determined efforts finally paid off with their fourth try in the corner in the dying minutes, which pushed them 22-14 ahead with less than seven minutes to play.

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