Vodacom Bulls XV coach Phiwe Nomlomo says his young side’s “mental fragility” was exposed again by the Stormers XXIII at Loftus on Friday.
The hosts trailed 33-7 at the break before fighting back but still suffered a 50-26 defeat – their sixth of the campaign.
The Bulls will end the tournament at the bottom of the Currie Cup log, even if they claim an unlikely final-round win against the Sharks XV at Kings Park next week.
“We weren’t good today. We weren’t at the races at all,” Nomlomo admitted.
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The Bulls have been hard hit by injuries during a campaign in which 27 players have made their debuts.
“The scary thing is we finished with 13 U21s on the park, and the only senior guys there were Keagan [Johannes] and Hakeem [Kunene], really. And then Vlokie [Pieter van der Merwe], of course, is a club player at 12,” said Nomlomo.
“So when you look at it, our whole pack was an U21 pack.”
The Bulls again showed far more attacking threat after the break, scoring three second-half tries, but Nomlomo was frustrated by their failure to capitalise on opportunities earlier in the contest.
“You can see the guys are trying. They leaked 33 points in the first half, so there’s clearly something that’s happening in the second half that’s good.
“Why we’re not getting that right at the beginning of the game, that’s a concern.
“We know we try to wear teams down and we’re always going to come in the last 20 because of how we play. So there is a bit of design there, if I can call it that.
“The part that we’re lacking is obviously on the other side, massively.
“We weren’t accurate even on our attack today. Our first four entries, we didn’t convert one again.
“So, yeah, we’re young, we know that, and I’ve said it again and I don’t want to keep on repeating it.
“We weren’t good enough. We weren’t at the races. Province deserved to win.”
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Nomlomo refused to use the Bulls’ constant changes in personnel as an excuse for their struggles, insisting those selected had to take responsibility.
“Performance doesn’t require rhythm. Performance requires the man in the jersey to step up in the arena.
“That’s the part, for me, that I don’t think we always had.
“We lose concentration in the worst parts of the field, at the worst times as well.
“In the back end, our concentration is up. We know we need to make the passes stick. We know we need to go and score tries, and that’s why we’re suddenly so much better.
“Last week I spoke about mental fragility. I’m saying it again: we weren’t good enough.”
Photo: Vodacom Bulls
The post Nomlomo: Bulls weren’t at the races appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Vodacom Bulls XV coach Phiwe Nomlomo says his young side’s “mental fragility” was exposed again by the Stormers XXIII at Loftus on Friday.
The post Nomlomo: Bulls weren’t at the races appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
