Bulls have backs to wall as campaign hits a crisis

THE Blue Bulls’ Currie Cup campaign is in near crisis after their home defeat at the hands of a 14-man Western Province at Loftus.

Coach Pine Pienaar conceded his side now only have a slim chance of making the play-offs but that victory over the Golden Lions at Ellis Park this Saturday is now non-negotiable.

Having already gone into the ascendancy, Western Province showed great composure and tenacity after flanker Michael Rhodes was red carded for stepping on the face of Blue Bulls captain Jono Ross in the 36th minute.

The visitors’ game management and a slew of Bulls errors helped them ease to a 29-18 victory.

Pienaar afterwards wore the frown of a man whose budgie had just taken full flight.

“The same story, different game. Soft moments, we can’t control the game and give them broken field.

“The set piece was not good enough. I thought Western Province played extremely well. It wasn’t good enough,” said Pienaar who admitted the performance left him fuming.

“Here and there in our squad we are inexperienced but that is no excuse. It’s unacceptable.

“The other problem is the more experienced players are not finding their feet, which bothers me.

“There are guys who played Super Rugby who have the experience of 30, 40 games who make the wrong decision. I’m not happy about that. It’s time each and every player took responsibility for the way forward.”

Ordinarily a performance like the one the Bulls delivered on Saturday would have grave consequences in the next selection meeting.

Times are a-changing at Loftus however.

“We lost 22 players from the start of this year. We knew it was going to be a difficult Currie Cup. There are players who just started their careers and it is important for us to guide those players.”

While bemoaning his players’ shortcomings Pienaar also recognised the immense scale of the Western Province effort.

“Western Province really played well. That was one of the best performances I’ve seen from a 14-man team in a long time,” he said.

His counterpart Allister Coetzee understandably wore the grin of a man who had just charmed a 10kg snoek onto the deck.

“I’m sure the whole of Cape Town will be proud of this performance,” beamed Coetzee. “To do it with 14 men and at altitude is special. All credit to the captain and the senior players.”