Johan Ackermann praised the seamless reintegration of his returning Springboks after the Bulls ran in nine tries to dismantle the Lions 57-15 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Five of those tries came from players back from national duty. Man of the match Cameron Hanekom and hooker Johan Grobbelaar each scored braces, with Canan Moodie adding a fifth. The Bulls led 31-10 at the break before JF van Heerden, Cheswill Jooste and Sebastian de Klerk compounded the Lions' misery after the interval.
Ackermann acknowledged the logistical challenge of bringing the Springboks back into the fold mid-season but credited both players and coaching staff for the rapid turnaround. "The coaches put a lot of effort into sending them stuff on Monday, and then on Tuesday they had meetings with them separately to bring them up to speed. They learned everything quickly."
He was careful not to isolate Hanekom's contribution from the collective effort around him. "Every player has got his strengths, and Cameron has shown his strengths that stood out in some of the phases today. But you must look at how the opportunities were created — there are a lot of players involved in that."
Ackermann also singled out his bench for maintaining momentum through the final quarter, while captain Hanro Liebenberg — standing in with regular leadership absent — acknowledged a nervy opening before the team found its tempo. "As soon as we got our opportunities again, we took them better; that was the main work-on from the Munster game," Liebenberg said, referencing last week's 22-26 loss.
The victory moves the Bulls back into winning form and underlines the depth of a squad now operating with a full complement of Springbok talent.