The Bulls will take a leaf out of the Lions’ book. The side from Pretoria was knocked out in the Currie Cup semifinal by Western Province last weekend‚ while the Lions‚ who remain unbeaten in the domestic competition‚ will host the final at Ellis Park following impressive‚ consistent performances.The Johannesburg-based Lions have outshone all the other seven teams in the domestic competition with their expansive and electrifying game — something Bulls coach Nollis Marais hopes to copy and paste going into next year’s Super Rugby campaign.“I still believe that the way the Lions play their rugby is the way forward for South African rugby. I believe it’s excellent rugby and something that I highly believe in‚” said Marais‚ who will take charge of his first season of Super Rugby next year.Marais himself had breathed some life into the Bulls’ style of play this season in the Currie Cup. Contrary to the monotonous rugby the Pretoria side had been accustomed to‚ this season the team played with some flair and produced some magnanimous performances.Lions coach Johan Ackermann believes the Bulls let themselves down in the semi against Province by veering away from the more expansive game they often produced.“The Bulls changed their game this year and surprisingly they didn’t play the game they played throughout the Currie Cup [against WP]. Maybe they fell into that trap‚” Ackermann said.Marais brought confidence to the Bulls side by having faith and backing young and inexperienced players‚ and also rid the side of the emphasis on big players who attempt to bash through defences before kicking possession away.His charges played with more freedom which gave the likes of Jumba Ulengo — a player who failed to flourish under former coach Frans Ludeke — confidence.Ulengo remains the competition’s top try-scorer after having dotted down a mammoth 11 times‚ with the next best player being the Lions’ Kwagga Smith who has scored eight.Marais admits that there are improvements to be made in his side in preparation for the Super Rugby tournament.“There are certain things we need to improve. First and foremost‚ we have to establish a new way of playing‚” he said.“There are things that we will implement in Super rugby that we have already slowly started with. There are certain personnel I’m looking at and certain aspects I want to change.“Now I have an opportunity to do that – to start pressing buttons I have to press‚ getting the right people for certain things.”At the top of the coach’s priority list is the intention to place emphasis on the conditioning of players.“We will have to make sure that we play 80-minute rugby‚” Marais said. “I believe that we need to change the whole way of conditioning. We need to be more explosive – a more fitness- oriented and healthy side.”He continued: “I believe we can get there in the next couple of months. We are going to have to work very hard. There is a huge difference between the way we want to play and the way we are used to playing.“To play the way I intend on playing‚ we need a total mind shift in our conditioning and how we approach training sessions. There has to be more intensity – it has to be faster and robust.“Our guys need to be able to run with the ball and our skills need to be better. If you want to change and play a more explosive and expansive game basic skills have to be better.”Bulls chief executive Barend van Graan said on Tuesday that the union had not yet finalised Marais’ coaching staff for Super Rugby‚ as well as other management posts at the various levels at the union...