By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Vodacom Bulls head coach Johan Ackermann has denied that the Springbok Mobi-Unit will be involved in his team’s preparations for Saturday’s URC derby with the Stormers in Cape Town.
Bulls has lost six out of nine games across the respective tournaments.
Having lost 33-46 to Bordeaux-Bégles at home and 5-50 to Northampton Saints away, they are in danger of missing the Champions Cup playoffs for the second consecutive season.
The Bulls could also miss out on Challenge Cup qualification – as the Stormers did last season – if they don’t accumulate enough log points from their remaining pool matches against Bristol (home) and Pau (away) next month.
And in light of the past weekend’s results, the Bulls have dropped to 10th place on the URC table.
There’s no guarantee that they will be in the URC playoff mix come June, or that they will qualify for Europe next season.
On Sunday, SA Rugby confirmed that Bok assistant coaches Felix Jones and Jerry Flannery, SA Rugby Mobi-Unit coach Duane Vermeulen and head of athletic performance Andy Edwards will provide short-term support to the Bulls following a request from the struggling side for assistance in specific technical areas.
Ackermann on Tuesday, said the Bok coaches would not be involved with the Bulls this week.
“I never asked for that, and Rassie [Erasmus] also said it wouldn’t be ideal. The thought that they [Bok coaches] would be in camp this week is ridiculous, and I challenge any press photographer to get a picture of a Bok coach at Loftus this week – it was never our intention.”
“The story was spread without the facts, and nobody bothered to speak to me. The truth is simple: I assessed everything and wanted a fresh pair of eyes to look at our defensive structures and bounce ideas off.”
Ackermann clarified the nature of his request, saying he called Erasmus.
“I said, you’ve always made your team of coaches available, and I’d love it if someone like [assistant coach] Jerry Flanerry could come in and look at our defensive systems and share some ideas.
“I don’t expect the Bok coaches to put a plan together on how to win – that is my job as head coach. I have my own system; it was never my idea to secure plans.”
Ackermann added that any collaboration would be practical and rotational.
“You can’t expect the Bok coaches, one of whom lives in Ireland, to be at Loftus every week. I’d be happy if they rotated, which is where the idea of involving Duane Vermeulen and Felix Jones came in.
“I would never ask Rassie for game plans, merely a careful eye on what we are doing. This is about alignment and perspective, not about outsourcing our coaching.”