Bulls not too worried about poor form when on tour

Bulls captain Nizaam Carr says the team is aware of their worrying performances when visiting the northern hemisphere this season. 

The Pretoria side has played six matches in Europe in all competitions and has suffered four losses and won only twice. In the last defeat, 7-31 to French side Lyon in the Champions Cup, the Bulls were totally outplayed.

Their performances when travelling to Europe have drawn comparison to those of Australia and New Zealand when the side was in the Super Rugby. Even though the Pretoria-based side won the competition three times, being the only SA team to do so, they had a reputation for being bad on their travels. 

Carr noted that they have been struggling in their tours of Europe but the matter is not one of great concern. “Tour is a tough thing for every team,” said Carr when speaking to the media in a virtual press conference. 

“I wouldn’t say it’s a concern but we have been talking about it. I can’t speak on behalf of the previous Bulls sides because I have not toured with them. We did have a look at that, it is something that we are addressing but the camaraderie between the boys on and off the field is tight.

“I think it will turn around for us, we are working extremely hard. We are focusing on different plans and things, how to tackle these teams and the way we play. We are not going away from what we do best, I know in the last couple of weeks we have been challenged with our pack not being dominant,” he said. 

The Bulls take on Scarlets tomorrow at Parc y Scarlets (9.35pm) in Llanelli, Wales. Carr said they want to use the game to heal the wounds from last week’s drubbing by Lyon. 

“We are playing and training with confidence again, yes, there was a difficult hurdle to overcome. We are there again, we are ready, we are excited and looking forward to Friday night’s game. We are looking at that game to make a difference to what happened to us last week," Carr said.