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'The defeat is a huge disappointment, in actual fact, it's a disgrace'
By Online Editors
Head coach Pote Human did not hold back in his assessment of the Blue Bulls current Currie Cup form - report Rugby 365.
The Blue Bulls suffered a 15-37 defeat to the Griquas on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld.
The Pretoria-based side, who were overwhelming favourites heading into the encounter, opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a sublime try by Rosco Specman. They went on to take a 10-0 lead after just 15 minutes of play. ‘
However, their lead was shortlived as sloppy play and poor discipline allow Griquas to dominated proceedings.
In the end, the men from Kimberley outplayed the Bulls by scoring four tries, while, Pote Human’s side could only produce two tries courtesy of Specman and Marco Van Staden.
“The defeat is a huge disappointment, in actual fact, it’s a disgrace,” Human told reporters after the match.
“If you look at our team 21 of the 23-men squad are Super Rugby players – so there are no excuses,”
He added: “I should go look at my selections and take it from there.
“We managed to secure a win over the Pumas last weekend, but the team certainly has not been on fire.”
When asked if there were any positives, the coach pointed out that the scrums were the only good thing about Saturday’s performance.
“If there is one positive, it has to be the scrums. We scored a maul try but what else did we do? I think we work hard during the week but on Saturday we produced that type of play… certainly no excuses,”
The Blue Bulls are now at the bottom of the Currie Cup table standings with just five points. They suffered three defeats from four matches and will have to secure wins over the unbeaten Golden Lions and the Sharks to stop having to play promotion-relegation matches.
“We are last on the log and it’s going to be a struggle not to stay there,” the coach said, explaining: “We have the unbeaten Lions next followed by a challenging fixture against the Sharks.
“With that schedule, I don’t think we will make it for the semifinals. It is just all about pride now,”
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Latest Comments
But he chose rightly or wrongly to play for Tonga. If he wanted to play for the ABs why didn’t he hold off?
Go to comments“A succession of recent ex-players going straight back into the game as coaches in their early 40’s would prob be enough to kill it stone-dead. Innovation would die a death.”
Would it? I do think one of the major differences between rugby and most other sports - which we’ve been overlooking - is the degree to which players are expected to lead team meetings & analysis sessions and the like. Someone like Owen Farrell has basically been an assistant coach already for ten years - and he’s been so under a variety of different head coaches with different expectations and playing styles.
“The most interesting ppl I have met in the game have all coached well into their sixties and they value the time and opportunity they have had to reflect and therefore innovate in the game. That’s based on their ability to compare and contrast between multiple eras.”
I don’t doubt that that’s true. But having interesting insights doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the best able to inspire a team, or the best at managing the backroom staff.
“Wayne Smith winning the WWC in his mid sixties three years ago prob means nothing to you but it meant a lot to him. It took him back to the roots of is own coaching journey.”
I don’t doubt that! But I don’t think coaches should be hired on the basis that it means a lot to them.
“The likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Wayne Bennett and Andy Reid all have a tale to tell. You should open your ears and listen to it!”
I agree! Never have I ever suggested otherwise!
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