Ackermann thrilled with impact of Bok stars in Bulls win, Van Rooyen says Lions ‘below par’

The Bulls, packed with Springbok players, were way too good for the Lions, who were also close to full-strength. The Bulls’ Springbok contingent announced their return to franchise rugby with a bang, by helping spearhead their side’s 57-15 demolition job over the Lions in their United Rugby Championship (URC) cross-Jukskei derby over the weekend. It was a clinical performance from the Bulls, who travelled back to Pretoria following a two-match tour of Europe to start their URC campaign. They arrived home in Pretoria only last Monday, and only had a few training sessions together as a full group ahead of their derby against the Lions. Slotted in seamlessly Bulls coach Johan Ackermann didn’t hesitate to bring in his Springbok players who didn’t travel with the side to Europe, as they completed their recent international duties in Australia. Though there were concerns of rustiness and a lack of cohesion ahead of the Lions game, the Bulls delivered a superb performance. “I’m very pleased (with how the team gelled). It shows the character and the quality of the players to buy into what we want to do,” explained Ackermann after the match. “The coaches put a lot of effort into sending them (the Bok players in SA) stuff on Monday, and then on Tuesday they had meetings with them separately to bring them up to speed. They learned everything quickly, and on Wednesday we had a day off, and on Thursday we trained. “It wasn’t perfect, there were mistakes, but you could see that they were buying into what we wanted to do, and quickly settled in. I think there are so many tries where there were players involved that created something, and then the Boks showed their class as well. “It’s good that those guys contributed, but what pleased me as well was the bench. The guys came on and made a difference, and kept the pressure on the Lions.” Disappointed Lions Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said that his side firmly felt the impact of the Bulls’ returning star players, but also admitted his disappointment at his team’s poor display, especially after a strong start to their season with two home wins and good momentum on their side. “I don’t want to take anything away from the Bulls. I think they were exceptional. It felt like we played against 10 or 12 Springboks today and they were good,” said Van Rooyen. “But in saying that, with all the respect in the world, I thought we were really below par. A lot of the fixes will be on us.” The Bulls will be buoyed by their bounce-back win, after losing to Munster, and will head into their home Champions Cup opener against Stade Francais with plenty of confidence. The Lions head off to France where they face an extremely tough first ever Champions Cup clash against French giants, La Rochelle.