Coach Paul Gustard says Saturday’s 56-20 Investec Champions Cup defeat to the Bulls at Loftus hurts for “a big team” like Stade Français.
The French Top 14 club, who left 18 first-choice players behind in Paris, conceded eight tries.
Gustard has been around the block. Consequently, he didn’t try to put any gloss on his team’s effort.
“Rugby hasn’t changed much over the last hundred years, the basics of the game are a good scrum and a good lineout,” he said. “Unfortunately we were second best in the scrum and second best in the lineout.
“We didn’t get much reward from the balls we did win, and beyond that, they won the ball when they wanted to win it. We lost too much ball in the first half, and after that it became a physical contest.
“What I felt the Bulls did really well was find space in our backfield, they exploited it through footwork and speed, and we didn’t maximise our opportunities to turn the ball over or put them under pressure in their own 22. We probably overplayed our hand a bit in the middle of the field.”
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On the match itself, he said Bulls wing Cheswill Jooste’s try after 20 seconds was “a thunderbolt”, but his team rebounded until around the hour mark before the hosts’ bench and heat played their part to put the game beyond reach.
He specifically named Bulls replacement loose forward Jeandré Rudolph and Springbok fullback Willie le Roux, comparing it to his team having several academy players within its ranks.
“Ultimately that was too much for us to handle today, but for 60 minutes it was competitive,” he said. “I’m hurting with the final result, we’re not a Mickey Mouse team, we’re a big team, and to concede 50 points is hurtful.”
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Prop Moses Alo-Emile had few complaints, admitting the Bulls had been better in most departments.
“The heat and altitude are definitely two factors we think about as players, but at the end of the day they’re just conditions, it’s still 15 against 15.
“I felt confident in the young boys who came out today; the Bulls were just a better squad today.”
Gustard, though, wasn’t too downcast.
“I was really pleased with our mindset and mentality, fighting in the heat and altitude against a very strong team,” he said. “That shows a lot of character about where we are as a group.
“But when you make that many errors, when you’re being pushed back in the scrum and can’t compete at the lineout, you’re under pressure for too long against a team of that quality, and it’s going to be a tough day.
“The positive was how hard we fought. There was a lot of effort, it was never a question of effort or desire, we fronted up. We just made too many errors.
“Fundamentally, the basics of the game – scrum, lineout and making one-on-one tackles – that’s where it came down to, and today I felt we were second best in those areas by a long way.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post ‘We’re not a Mickey Mouse team’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Coach Paul Gustard says Saturday’s 56-20 Investec Champions Cup defeat to the Bulls at Loftus hurts for “a big team” like Stade Français.
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