Assistant coach Chris Rossouw and centre Wandisile Simelane were delighted with the Vodacom Bulls’ bonus-point win in the Champions Cup against Exeter Chiefs on Saturday.
Simelane crossed the whitewash twice as the Bulls claimed a 39-28 victory in a 10-try thriller at Loftus Versfeld, exacting revenge for a 30-point defeat in Exeter in the second week of the competition.
In fifth spot in Pool A before Sunday’s round of fixtures, the men from Pretoria will now travel to France to face Lyon on Friday in their final pool encounter.
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Speaking post-match at Loftus, Rossouw, who has been given the reins while director of rugby Jake White recovers from abdominal surgery, said: “It’s incredibly sweet getting this victory after five tough weeks, being away most of the time, and then getting the bonus point at home.
“For us, this is extremely positive and well done to the boys. They worked extremely well, especially the forwards laying the foundation for us to play from.
“We always say the forwards determine whether you win or not, and the backs by how many, and that was exactly the case tonight.
“In terms of our scrumming, it was a little bit indifferent at the beginning but after that we got dominance which gave us a lot of territory. And then our maul kicked in.
“On top of that our breakdown worked especially well, alongside our defence so, again, well done to the boys.”
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Simelane has impressed at outside centre in his last two appearances, having featured mostly at No 15 and wing after joining the Bulls from the Lions this season.
He added: “We stuck to what works for us and to our gameplan. We pitched up physically and defensively and I’m pretty happy with the effort.
“We knew we would be under the pump at stages of the game because Chiefs is a top team, so we were mentally prepared that things wouldn’t always go our way and we just had to stay in the fight and stick it out and knew the pendulum would swing.
“And when it did happen we managed to convert our opportunities, which was great from the boys.
“When you’re having fun you’re probably playing well so we’re just trying to have fun out there and let the result take care of itself.”
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