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BULLS FACED MASSIVE CHALLENGE AT ELLIS PARK

Published: 2026-01-26 21:46:42 Last Updated: 2026-01-27 11:37:17

Johan Ackermann, the coach of the Vodacom Bulls, will now hope for some consistency when his team takes on the Lions in the second leg of the Jukskei derby this coming weekend at Ellis Park after fighting their way out of the worst hole they have ever been in.
The home loss to the Lions was undoubtedly the one outcome that truly stung the Bulls during their seven-game losing streak, even though things haven't gone their way since Ackermann took charge. The Bulls were constantly down and required more than simply bravery to win because of their inconsistent selection process, players performing far below expectations, shaky defence, and early point concessions.
Given Ackermann's past with the Lions and the fact that Ivan van Rooyen, his former strength and conditioning coach, is currently coaching the Lions, the defeat at Loftus was especially painful for them.
Even though the Champions Cup defeats against elite teams were to be expected and playing abroad is always risky, the Bulls' confidence and momentum were severely damaged by the defeat, which was crucial to their success in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. As a result, the Lions surged ahead of them on the log. Although the owners of the Johannesburg team don't seem to notice the inconsistency, it was a huge headache for the Pretoria team, who had higher expectations for the finalists from the previous season.
Since then, the Bulls have ended their seven-game losing streak and battled to two tough, ugly victories in Pau and Edinburgh. They believe they have somewhat turned the tide, but the second leg of this derby will be crucial for the Bulls because the season will pause for the Six Nations starting next week.
The Bulls should be encouraged by several players returning, all of whom are Springboks who can make an impact, even though they still need to determine the full extent of winger Cheswill Jooste's and Sebastian de Klerk's injuries. Canan Moodie missed the two-match foreign tour due to a concussion, but Cobus Wiese went home early to give birth to his child and should be able to play again. He will undoubtedly return to the spotlight now that Jooste and De Klerk are doubtful.
Elrigh Louw, who returned home with a buttocks muscle injury that the Bulls are hoping will heal by this week, should also be back in action for the team. Regretfully, it appears that Jan Serfontein, Cameron Hanekom, and Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg will only make a comeback for the upcoming derby against the Sharks at Loftus on February 28.
It's unclear if Gerhard Steenekamp will be taken into consideration for the game as well because he is still recuperating from surgery on a broken thumb that occurred a few weeks ago. If Steenekamp is given additional time to rest, the Bulls can play Jan-Hendrik Wessels at loosehead in addition to Alulutho Tshakweni.
Although Akker van der Merwe also went home with neck spasms, his prognosis before the weekend was really favourable, thus he might also be taken into consideration. In an attempt to avoid using flanker Marco van Staden as a hooker, the Bulls have kept either Wessels or Johan Grobbelaar on the bench for longer.
On Friday night, Grobbelaar was the star of the show. The Bulls will be actively seeking more consistency, particularly as they enter the strike zone, according to Ackermann's post-game remarks. As has been the case throughout the season, the Bulls produced several opportunities in the second half but failed to capitalise on them.

"That is a big work-on because we all aim for that perfect game where you finish every 22m entry," Ackermann remarked. "I think the first positive is that we made Edinburgh work hard in that first half."

"Even though we made some silly errors and gave them opportunities, we really made them work. And then in the second half, we got what we needed.

"It was early points just to get back in the game. We missed a fair bit of opportunities — we had a few penalties, line-out mauls and scrums — but the composure was probably the big thing.

“We played in an area where we could have controlled the game and, when it counted, we got the points that we needed. But in the future, starting this week against the Lions, we have to be more clinical.”

Seldom will you be in complete control of the game for eighty minutes. However, those swings, those enormous highs and lows, are unacceptable. If we can reduce our error rate and increase general consistency in our 80 minutes, it will be beneficial.

After having trouble securing a nice ball in the first half, Ackermann commended the players for changing tack in the second half.

When it comes to the breakdown, they are tough. They definitely slow your ball down, so we had to clean that up and make sure we got our ball because they challenge every breakdown. In the second half, the guys truly performed what we discussed.

"The players deserve praise. There was no panic when we discussed it previously. There was a strong belief that we could make things better.

Ackermann is aware of the importance of an away victory and the impetus it would provide the team going into halftime while the Lions wait. He also understands what a defeat would entail.

Ackermann stated, "We just need to take on the challenge." When they defeated us at Loftus, they were excellent. Going to Ellis Park to see if we can get a result is a huge task for us. We must recuperate from our journey and ensure that we are rejuvenated for what will be an intensely physical conflict.

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