To the casual outsider, the Vodacom Bulls’ move to ask for help from the Springbok coaching team this week following the ouster of their assistant coaches before Christmas may look like a cry for help, but as they head towards the new year, only time will tell us if it indeed is as bad as it looks.
Last week’s ouster of assistants Chris Rossouw and Andries Bekker following the Bulls' string of poor results also paints the picture that the two of them are the reason for Johan Ackermann’s side failing to meet their target in the last few weeks.
Whether this is true or not we won’t know. Just like the Bulls' quiet refusal to discuss what led to the ouster of Jake White, who took them to two Vodacom United Rugby Championship finals and was apparently ousted by a player revolt that included both Rossouw and Bekker
We won’t know also what led to the axing two days before Christmas, because officially it hasn’t been announced yet.
Even though Ackermann has already appointed Neil de Bruin - who was his assistant at the Lions and followed him to Japan - as backline coach in Rossouw’s place.
Even though the Springboks have confirmed that four of their coaches will assist the Bulls on an ad-hoc basis, Loftus is as quiet as a graveyard.
A LOT OF QUESTIONS, BUT FEW ANSWERS
Part of this is ostensibly because there are exit packages being negotiated with Bekker and Rossouw and a statement will only make sense when these have been sorted out, but for Bulls fans as the year ends, a lot doesn’t make sense right now.
White was ousted having taken the Bulls to the final, and Ackermann was appointed with great fanfare, but now is on a five-game losing streak and under growing pressure.
Saturday’s derby against log leaders and traditional rivals, the DHL Stormers has only increased that and at the least, the axing this past week was an acknowledgement that Ackermann’s softly-softly approach of settling in and keeping the assistants was the wrong one.
Either way, it is hard not to conclude that something is wrong at Loftus Versfeld and it will take some doing to get the season back on track.
With the axing, Ackermann has owned the team and made sure the buck stops with him, but you can’t help wondering why White was axed, why he was reportedly paid out millions and why it was necessary to axe the assistants two days before Christmas?
If the Bulls' results suddenly improve, was it the two assistants’ that were the problem, or was it something else? Has the power struggle after White lost the changeroom been solved, or is it deeper than that? Time will tell.
VICTIM OF OWN SUCCESS
The Bulls certainly expected the new coach to carry them into the new season with momentum, but failed to understand the late appointment, along with the lack of an off-season, hampered the team on so many fronts.
At the end of the Sharks game, the camera panned to Ackermann, forlorn and frustrated in the coaches box. He sat there just staring forward. It was a moment that summed up the season so far.
His side have yet to put together an 80 minute performance, and while some of the issues are symptomatic of a rugby ecosystem that strains player welfare and punishes teams with too many Springboks, there seem to be other issues as well.
Ackermann finds himself where the Sharks were last season, a victim of their own success with many of their Boks unable to play regularly because of national commitments and resting periods, and the back-up not taking the step-up quick enough.
MOST BOKS MEANS MORE PROBLEMS
They have at least 10 Springboks who have been part of the national setup this past year and that makes planning difficult.
That means the Boks are gone from the Bulls setup from July to December, and need to have time off in March again.
Their biggest assets, which eat up much of their budget, play very little for the side in reality.
Add to that the same problem the Sharks had when they had the most Boks. There is never a pre-season.
Ackermann came into the job with half the squad playing Currie Cup and the other half on Bok duty. At one stage he had 11 players he could train with.
Where Ackermann’s own coaching has perhaps worked against his goals is his proclivity to change his squad up every single week.
We’ve seen at Springbok level how it works when you get it right. But for the Bulls, you get the feeling they need some continuity as their mix and match approach is not quite clicking for them at the moment.
The Bulls, like the Sharks, also have an extended squad that is a step down in certain positions when they come onto the field.
Now that so many of their Bulls players have graduated into the Springbok squad, the next tier feels a step down, and has yet to show they can take that step up.
POOR DISCIPLINE
The Bulls have not helped themselves with poor discipline - the two yellow cards for deliberate knockdowns against Bordeaux were game killers.
And then there have been the injuries. Cameron Hanekom won’t be available until next year, already more than a month after his targeted date.
Johan Goosen’s calf injury may be career ending and Kade Wolhuter was a massive gamble that backfired and now is out for the rest of the season.
Jan Serfontein looked good in his first few appearances but an MCL injury sees him out for eight weeks.
The pressure is certainly on and Ackermann acknowledges there is no easy fix. Hard work and a bit of continuity, and then hoping for a bit of luck. One thing is for sure, the Bulls have a lot to sort out.
The coach isn’t shying away from it though. And vowed to continue fighting to get the side’s season back on track.
ACKERS FIGHTS BACK
“A lot of things go through your head at that moment,” Ackermann said. “Why can’t we get the result. You feel you’ve done a lot of good things up until a point and then the game slipped away from you.
“A lot of times things happen to people and you ask yourself why this happens to me. That is where we are as a team. We do a lot of things well and then one thing happens and the opposition capitalises on it. Then it looks as if we are out of the game.
“It was a reflection of how we got into that situation and you wonder firstly about your role and if you could have done things better. That is where you need strength and you must know where you get your strength. I believe God is in control of my life and it is a moment where your character is tested.
“You can decide if you are going to give up or continue. God tells us he will never leave us or forsake us so I believe in that and I trust in Him.”
COACH DOESN’T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS
Ackermann had a similar message to the players, telling them to keep on working hard and things will come right.
“I told the players exactly that. If we had the answers to why things happen to people, then why are there people who get Cancer or are in an accident. There are people who suffer. We don’t have the answers and we need to decide if we react, how we are towards people. You can decide if you are going to make a difference just when it is going well with you, or if things are negative then you are short-tempered and not nice to people.
“I told them I don’t have the answers to why we are in a situation like this. Obviously the reaction will be emotional and you have to look deep inside yourself but the reality is, all we can do now is enjoy their time off with their families and they can return fresh in mind and spirit and then it is a massive challenge against one of the best teams in the competition. That’s all we can focus on now.”
That challenge is the north-south derby against the Stormers, a game that will test the resolve of the Bulls against the competition’s only unbeaten team.
It will be a massive ask to win in Cape Town, but the Bulls need to show guts and hope their renewed spirit will be enough to get them through.
The alternative is more desperation and more pressure. And that wouldn’t be a good way to start a new year.