Grobbies: We have to bury the Lions
02/18/2025 11:00 PM
Johan Grobbelaar says the Vodacom Bulls must leverage their scrum prowess in Saturday's Jukskei derby at Loftus to address a trend of "letting teams in the back door".
The Bulls last week failed to put away an injury-hit Sharks outfit, conceding three second-half tries in a Vodacom URC defeat in Pretoria. An inability to land the knockout blow almost cost Jake White’s men against the Stormers two weeks ago in Cape Town, where a missed conversion from Clayton Blommetjies saved their blushes.
"It’s something we've spoken about – when we're on top of a team we have to bury them, and we haven't done that well enough the last couple of weeks," said Grobbelaar in the buildup to the rescheduled round 9 clash against the Lions this week.
"It's about staying focused and not letting them in [through] the back door at the end of the game. We saw it in the [URC] final last year.
"Whether it's those players coming off the bench or a lack of concentration, it's definitely something we're going to have to fix going forward in this competition."
Saturday's match is an opportunity for the Herd to reset, but the Lions will head up the M1 buoyed by a 30-23 win over the Stormers. The Pride overpowered their Cape rivals in the scrums while backs such as Henco van Wyk and Quan Horn capitalised out wide.
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"As you saw with the tries the Lions scored last week they've got amazing pace in the outfield. We're going to have to keep a solid defensive line and our width, and not give away any soft shoulders," Grobbelaar said. "They always have a good set piece so we've got to be on top of our game."
The Bulls have dominated in the scrums this season, even in the defeat to the Sharks, but Grobbelaar believes they haven't maximised that advantage.
"The game [plan] starts with the scrums, lineouts and mauls; that’s an important factor for us, it's always been at the Bulls. We pride ourselves on that," the Bok hooker said.
"We've been really good at scrum time the last couple of weeks, and the credit goes to the props – it makes my life easier when I'm going forward.
"We can use that to our advantage more, and not just throw the ball away after a scrum penalty… Hopefully we can convert [our opportunities] better after the positive metres we've gained from the scrums."
On the growth of teammate Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who made his Test debut in the front row with Grobbelaar against Portugal last year, the 27-year-old rake added: "I've played a lot of games with him, more with him at hooker but the last two years or so with him at loosehead.
"He's still young and just going to get better at loosehead. He's already doing a great job showing that he can be at the top with the best in the world."
Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
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