Johan Ackermann admitted his Bulls side were mentally distracted going into Saturday's URC match against the Scarlets at Loftus Versfeld, and the 54-26 scoreline masked a performance that threatened to unravel badly in the middle two quarters.
Four Bulls players had been named in the Springbok squad for the Nations Championship tour opener against Italy, while the rest of the squad were promised two weeks off in November — enough of a distraction on both fronts for Ackermann to flag his concerns beforehand.
The Bulls flew out of the blocks to lead 19-0 after 27 minutes before conceding two tries off self-inflicted errors to go into halftime only 19-12 ahead. The Scarlets drew level at 26-26 on the hour mark, but the Bulls closed out the match with four unanswered tries in the final 25 minutes.
"This week we didn't have such good preparation, we weren't as sharp as usual, and I was worried the Springboks' minds would be on their tour and the others' minds would be on going on holiday," Ackermann said. "It was the same as last weekend. We made it hard for ourselves against a Scarlets who never gave up. We showed character to pull the game through in the end."
Ackermann pointed to the bench making a telling impact on tempo and credited a strong scrum at key moments. He also acknowledged the burden of three consecutive home matches in Pretoria's summer heat, noting that training loads had been trimmed to keep legs fresh.
Captain Hanro Liebenberg was equally candid. "It could be the fatigue from playing at 1pm or 2pm for three weeks in a row. But we don't want to make excuses because we didn't train as well as we should either. The frustration is that we know how good we can be, but we're not there yet."
The result moves the Bulls to four wins from five matches, with a points difference of +108 — significantly clear of any other team in the competition. Two away derbies against the Lions and Sharks await before the year is out, with the Bulls' next URC fixture on December 5 at Ellis Park.