{"id":46644,"date":"2026-01-04T08:54:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T08:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=46644"},"modified":"2026-01-04T08:54:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T08:54:49","slug":"ackers-it-hurts-to-lose-like-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/04\/ackers-it-hurts-to-lose-like-this\/","title":{"rendered":"Ackers: It hurts to lose like this"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>\u201cI feel sorry for the players because things just don\u2019t seem to want to turn for us\u201d.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Vodacom Bulls coach Johan Ackermann says the bounce of the ball and the 50-50 calls went against his side in a 13-8 defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town.<\/p>\n<p>The Bulls suffered a sixth consecutive loss across competitions despite pushing the unbeaten Stormers all the way in a Vodacom URC north-south derby that was decided by a 79th-minute lineout-maul try from replacement prop Ntuthuko Mchunu.<\/p>\n<p>Bulls flyhalf Handre Pollard levelled the scores early in the second half but missed two further shots at goal, while the Stormers were more clinical late on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s obviously disappointing at the moment. We\u2019re all emotional and it hurts to lose like this,\u201d Ackermann said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-i-feel-sorry-for-the-players\">\u2018I feel sorry for the players\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cI feel sorry for the players because things just don\u2019t seem to want to turn for us. Even when we win a high ball, the bounce doesn\u2019t go our way. It feels like every little kick goes against us and you don\u2019t get the 50-50 calls [from referee Griffin Colby] either. It\u2019s a tough place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ackermann said the loss was down to fine margins rather than a lack of effort.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really wanted the players to put their hands up and they did,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a fluent game. There were mistakes from both sides and it boiled down to one or two big decisions. Credit to the Stormers \u2013 they finished well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Bulls came close to stopping the decisive late maul.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted the boys to contest,\u201d Ackermann explained. \u201cWe could have stayed on the floor and tried to defend the maul, but we went up and contested. We won it and it was millimetres \u2013 Ruan [Nortje] just missed the ball. Hopefully soon it turns for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ackermann also pointed to the windy conditions, which complicated the aerial battle, though he stressed they were not an excuse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe wind definitely made the aerial contest difficult,\u201d he said. \u201cThe ball looks like it\u2019s going far and then suddenly drops short. It\u2019s tough for both sides. But that\u2019s not the reason we lost \u2013 that was in our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the result, the Bulls coach believes there were positives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor large parts of the game we were good and created opportunities. When Sebastian [de Klerk] won that ball at the end, on another day the pass sticks and we score in the corner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose mistakes are fixable, and that\u2019s why I believe we can turn the season around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Bulls now shift focus back to the Investec Champions Cup, where Ackermann says there will be no holding back in matches against Bristol at Loftus next Saturday and Pau in France on 16 January.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going full out with the strongest possible team for the next two games,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we lose, we\u2019re out. If we win, we\u2019re in [the playoffs] \u2013 it\u2019s simple.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis next block is about getting everyone on the same page, building cohesion and turning our season around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>This story was first published on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Ackers #hurts #lose<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI feel sorry for the players because things just don\u2019t seem to want to turn for us\u201d. Vodacom Bulls coach&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46646,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46644\/revisions\/46646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}