If the Bulls can repeat the form they showed to beat the Sharks and also be more clinical, they can go all the way and beat Leinster in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final, Siya Kolisi says.
A gracious Kolisi said the Sharks were beaten by a better team after a pulsating semifinal which kept 47,214 vociferous fans on the edge of their seats at Loftus Versfeld.
The Bulls were forced to defend frantically after they were reduced to 13 players before they were able to emerge 25-13 winners and book a berth in Saturday’s final at Croke Park in Dublin.
In Saturday’s other semifinal, a dominant Leinster beat defending champions Glasgow 37-19 at the Aviva Stadium.
Asked what advice he had for the Bulls in the final, Kolisi replied tongue in cheek: “How can I advise after we lost.
“A lot of the Bulls players have been in situations like this before.
“I have no doubt they must just do what they did against us and be more clinical because they are playing against a tough Leinster team.
“We wish them the best and hopefully they can go and win it.
“The Sharks are backing the Bulls to go all the way.”
Kolisi said missed opportunities had proved to be costly for the Sharks in a brutal semifinal battle.
“We did not start well and the Bulls were really good and there is no two ways about that,” he said.
“They took their opportunities and we made a lot of mistakes.
“So well done to the Bulls and all the best for them in the final.
“We knew this would be a brutal South African derby.
“The Sharks could not execute after we created a lot of opportunities.
“We got to the Bulls try line a couple of times, but got held up and we fell off our feet in the mauls.
“This season we did not click as we thought we would as a team.
“But we can win the close games and we fought hard to reach the semifinals.
“We are just going to build from here and we should have had a better season.
“But we are happy to reach a semifinal.
“However, we were beaten by a much better team who took their opportunities and we did not do that.”
Sharks coach John Plumtree praised the Bulls’ resolute defence after they had been reduced to 13 men.
“Overall, we were disappointed with our performance and we had plenty of opportunities to win the game,” he said.
“With five minutes to go before halftime, we put the Bulls under pressure, they conceded two yellow cards, but we were not good enough to finish them off.
“After halftime, we felt that if we got our game going a bit more, and played a bit flatter on the gain line, we could up the pressure. We did that and scored a few nice tries.
“Later in the game, we were not good enough.
“Credit to the Bulls and their defence was outstanding, especially in defending their line.
“They had a massive crowd cheering them on, and that made it a pretty tough nut to crack.
“It was great to see so many people here tonight. We get the best URC crowds here in South Africa.
“From my side, I have loved this season with the boys to get to this point, but we are disappointed that we have not kicked on.
“We had plenty of territory and plenty of ball, but we could not convert it into points.
“We have to congratulate the Bulls. They were pretty good, and we were just a little bit off.”
The Herald
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.