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 Champions Cup clash in Scotland at the weekend, says coach Johan Ackermann.

Life was made tougher for the South African 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.

“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.

“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.

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

—  Johan Ackermann, Bulls coach

“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 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.

The Herald