Pote Human says the Vodacom Bulls showed some encouraging attacking signs in their 33-28 loss to the Stormers in Cape Town on Sunday. JON CARDINELLI reports.

The Bulls will have plenty to prove in this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby tournament. The Pretoria-based franchise finished dead last in the South Africa conference last season, and were among the least effective attacking units.

On Sunday, the Bulls scored four tries in a losing effort against the Stormers. These are early days as far as the 2019 campaign is concerned, with the tournament only set to commence on 15 February. Human, however, feels that the Bulls will take some important strides in the coming months.

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‘I’m not concerned by the outcome of this match,’ the Bulls coach said. ‘It’s never good [for the Bulls] to lose to WP or the Stormers, but there were other things we wanted to achieve in this game.

‘These are exciting times for us. We want to play an expansive brand of rugby and today showed why we are on the right path.’

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John Mitchell, who was Bulls head coach last season, has made an impact in his new role as England assistant coach. England beat Ireland 32-20 in Dublin on Saturday, and Mitchell was given a lot of credit for the result.

Human feels that Mitchell did a lot to change the mindset of the Bulls players in 2018.

‘We are building on the foundations laid down by Mitch last year. There will be a few tweaks here and there, but we are heading in the right direction.’

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