Johan Ackermann admits Bulls 'far from perfect' despite Ospreys URC win

“We were not perfect; we were far from perfect, and there were a lot of mistakes with and without the ball.”

That was the immediate reaction of new Bulls coach Johan Ackermann after his side’s 53-40 victory over the Ospreys in their United Rugby Championship (URC) opener in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon.

While the Bulls ran in nine tries, they also conceded six through poor defending at times. But Ackermann and his troops will have learnt a lot from this outing.

With a long tournament ahead, they will aim to fix some of those errors this weekend already when they face Leinster in a repeat of last season’s final. Leinster, coming off a 35-0 loss to the Stormers, will arrive at Loftus Versfeld eager for redemption — but so will the Bulls.

Ackermann said he felt privileged to coach his first game and praised the efficiency in the scrums and lineouts, while stressing that plenty of work still lies ahead.

“Our set piece was good, but apart from that, things went wrong when the ball was in play — on both sides,” the coach admitted.

“It was challenging because the 23 players who played haven’t trained together, and there were always disruptions, whether through injuries or players being unavailable due to the Currie Cup. The positive is that many of the combinations will improve, and the match fitness will come. You will always be happy with a win; you cannot take that for granted. It is better to win and not play well than to lose.”

Ackermann will be particularly pleased with how dominant the scrums were.

Without some first-choice front rowers — tighthead Wilco Louw and utility Jan-Hendrik Wessels are with the Springboks — the returning Gerhard Steenekamp, alongside hooker Johan Grobbelaar and Mornay Smith, dismantled the Ospreys scrum.

Even without lock and regular captain Ruan Nortjé, also on Bok duty, the Bulls controlled the lineouts for most of the match. That platform led to rolling mauls in good positions and a couple of tries.

With Springboks away and certain players still injured, others stepped up massively.

The one major concern, though, was defence. Ackermann’s backline, in particular, was caught out wide too often, allowing the Ospreys to dominate the first half and run in four tries.

“I have a lot of faith in this playing group, but we must improve because other teams will get better as the season progresses. Some of the tries scored against us were just too easy. Against stronger opponents, we won’t score this many ourselves, and then we’ll end up on the wrong side of the results. We have the ability to fix things and compete against the best. We just must work harder. But it’s important to enjoy this victory and not take it for granted. I am very proud of every player.”