Bulls coach Johan Ackermann is refusing to let a stacked squad and a new campaign create any illusions about Saturday’s URC season opener in Parma.
Zebre, he warns, will be waiting for his side with real hunger of their own.
“They will be excited to start well at home and in front of the home crowd,” Ackermann said ahead of the squad’s departure on Tuesday night. “It’s a new season for them.”
He knows exactly how dangerous that combination can be.
“It’s always a difficult one – week one, two – because you never know where you are, what areas are good and what areas are not so good.”
The Bulls will arrive in Italy having trimmed their preparation to the bone. International call-ups ate into pre-season, warm-up games were limited and Ackermann is bracing his players for a proper away-day fight rather than a comfortable opening statement.
“We know it’s going to be a massive challenge against a team that is hungry to perform in front of that crowd,” he said.
If the timing has been awkward, Ackermann sees the silver lining. Injuries and absences during the international window have forced his hand into fresh combinations, and he is embracing it rather than fighting it.
“Rugby is about opportunities, and sometimes a player gets an opportunity either through players not being available or sometimes through injury,” he said. “Hopefully those players will show that they can play at this level, and we’re excited about the team and the players getting the opportunity.”
That experimentation was on full display in the recent warm-up defeat of the Stormers, which Ackermann treated less as a result and more as a laboratory.
Stravino Jacobs was tried at inside centre, a young flyhalf and hooker combination was tested (Ruben Groenewald and Juan Else), and prized new recruit Thaakir Abrahams had his first proper run on the wing.
“The most important thing was to get a bit of rugby time and contact into the players,” Ackermann said. “It was just a good hit-out from a rugby perspective, but we also used that week to get closer as a team.”
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Depth is the word Ackermann keeps returning to when the conversation turns to the Bulls’ off-season recruitment. Abrahams, Curwin Bosch, Hanro Liebenberg, Dylan Maart, Sango Xamlashe and Hakeem Kunene have all walked into a squad that already boasts 15 Springboks, and Ackermann sees fierce internal competition as the whole point.
“Those guys are bringing that depth in a lot of positions, and there’s going to be quite fierce competition for the jersey,” he said. “That will keep everybody on their toes, and hopefully it will give us the opportunity to keep the squad fresh.”
Ackermann is careful to frame rotation as strength rather than uncertainty.
“Sometimes a player performs so well that he’s out and out playing every weekend, but if you’ve got the quality in the position, it allows you to rotate and keep the team strong,” he said.
After Zebre on Saturday comes a genuinely hostile away clash with Munster in Limerick. The Lions then follow at Loftus.
Memories of last season’s sluggish start still linger, with the Bulls needing weeks to find their rhythm. Ackermann wants a different pattern this time, without abandoning the composure that has carried his side deep into URC campaigns before.
“What the squad has learned over the years is not to panic if things don’t go your way,” he said. “In an ideal world, yes, we’re starting well and keeping ourselves in the hunt from the start, but the most important thing is to focus on dangerous opponents in Zebre. The last thing we can do is underestimate how tough they’re going to be there.”
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Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Gallo Images
The post Ackers wary of ‘hungry’ Zebre appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Bulls coach Johan Ackermann is refusing to let a stacked squad and a new campaign create any illusions about Saturday’s URC season opener in Parma.
The post Ackers wary of ‘hungry’ Zebre appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
