Blue Bulls coach Pote Human declared his intention to coach the Bulls in Super Rugby but admitted that it was a decision out of his hands.
Human’s Blue Bulls lost a thrilling Currie Cup semifinal 35-32 after extra time against Western Province at Newlands on Saturday‚ but quality of their performance suggested Human certainly has the players’ backing.
Captain Hanro Liebenberg described Human as a ‘father-figure’‚ further suggesting that if it were up to the players Human might get the Super Rugby job.
The Bulls are still searching for a Super Rugby coach after John Mitchell took up a contract with the Rugby Football Union (RFU)‚ to be England’s defence coach under Eddie Jones. Mitchell had just completed a year of his Bulls contract.
Human assisted Mitchell in a Super Rugby campaign that saw the Bulls struggle‚ but also showed evidence of a new‚ positive playing style that yielded some good results‚ including a win over the Hurricanes.
Human said that if he was asked to coach Super Rugby‚ he would keep building on what Mitchell started.
“It will be a real honour to coach the Bulls’ Super Rugby side‚’” Human said.
“But that is not for me to decide.
“It is a great bunch of players and we love each other. They played for me and I worked for them. I treated them like my own kids so it would be an awesome experience and privilege to coach the Super Rugby side.
“It depends who gets the Bulls coaching job in Super Rugby but if I am given the opportunity I will definitely carry on with what Mitchell started.
“John really laid a good platform‚ but if a new coach comes in‚ he will probably want to stamp his own ideas on the team. At this stage there is a lot of uncertainty around the Super Rugby job.”
Human has already looked at areas the Bulls need to improve for Super Rugby‚ identifying depth at prop as an issue‚ after another difficult day scrumming against Western Province.
The Bulls though‚ were impressive against the high riding Western Province‚ restricting the defending champions to only two tries after a season in which they scored a try bonus point in every Pool match. It was nearly enough to get them over the line.
“Our defence was awesome and our scrums were much better‚” Human said.
“I must compliment [loosehead prop] Trevor Nyakane. He showed why he can play both sides [of the scrum] and he did really well against [Province tighthead] Wilco Louw].
“Our defence was really good today. We missed that one lineout and they scored but you can’t put that down to our defensive structures.
“Our high lines worked perfectly for us today. The guys made their tackles and put them under huge pressure.”