Now is not the time for finger pointing. Now is the time to dig ourselves out of the hole we are in.
This is the forthright reaction from coach Johan Ackermann as his side slipped to their fifth defeat in eight matches this season and now have an uphill battle to qualify for the Investec Champions’ Cup playoffs.
The team has struggled on defence, letting in another eight tries to take their total to 43 for the season - averaging 5.5 tries a game and seem to be playing without confidence and with a lot of uncertainty in their own abilities.
It was never going to be easy for Ackermann, especially with a Champions Cup draw that saw them face the two finalists from last season in their opening two games, and the absence of Springboks and tough tour schedule hasn’t helped.
But this is the hand they have been dealt and Ackermann certainly isn’t shying away. While looking forlorn after the 50-5 loss to Northampton on Sunday night, he said he would soldier on to find answers when they haven’t been forthcoming in the last few weeks.
“I think we all have to take responsibility. One of our values is accountability, and together with that, we as coaches have to take responsibility around the preparation of the team, what we do during the week, what we do on the day of the game, and so on,” Ackermann said after the game.
“We put the players in a possible position to perform, and then, at some point, we choose players because we trust their ability, and every position has a certain task that it has to accomplish, and then you have to do that. Every player has to look at himself and say, I did my job as well as possible, and so we as coaches have to take that responsibility, and we're all in this together? It doesn't help to point fingers at each other, and we don't point fingers at each other.
“We just have to take responsibility together around what we have to fix and what we have to achieve, and if I wasn't good enough on the day, as a coach then I have to admit it, and the same with the players. If there's something we have to improve, then we have to fix it.”
Ackermann didn’t take the bait whether players respected the jersey enough and said that individuals will need to answer for themselves.
“I think every player will have to answer for themselves. You know, I can never say to a player that he doesn't respect the jersey well enough. I can just tell him to choose what he's doing, and if he doesn't do what's expected, then we have to ask ourselves, what was the reason?
“Why couldn't you do it? Is it time to make a change? Is it time for someone who can do it? But there's one thing I always say to the players, it's a privilege to wear this jersey, and it's not your right. And no matter if it's your first time, or if it's your 100th time, that you're wearing the blue jersey, you have to deserve it.
“And that will be my expectation and I know people will feel that it doesn't look like it at the moment, and I think that's the sad part. People will think that, but the players respect the jersey, but we just have to stick together and correct those mistakes.”
Ackermann added that these are the only players the Bulls have on their books, and it was his job to get them to perform.
“Well, we only got 50 or 54 players on the books, so that's the players that must be able to do the job. Regardless of who we pick and who we put out there, there's the expectation that they can do the job, and we can keep working with them, then it's up to us to make sure they can do it.
“If we feel they don't do it, then obviously we can give the next guy an opportunity, but the reality is that the players that play tonight need to play somewhere because of the format of where we are, interlinking competitions, resting our springboks, etc., so.
“If they're good enough to get signed by us, then hopefully they're good enough to perform, so it's a difficult one. The reality is that nobody goes out to make a mistake. I don't even think people go out there and go, stand up and go to work to make a mistake, or go and work and maybe, you know, get in an accident, or whatever the case may be, but it happens.
“At the moment, my faith is in God, my faith is in Him, and that is where my identity lies, it's not, I can't change the result. I just know that you know, I can just keep my faith and keep working with the players that we have, and keep faith in them and support them where they can, and hopefully we'll get out of this hole.”
The Bulls fixtures don’t get easier as they face the Hollywoodbets Sharks in a derby this weekend and then have the Christmas break before heading to Cape Town to face the DHL Stormers in their north-south derby on 3 January.