Bulls coach Frans Ludeke does not regard it as a crisis yet, but he is certainly keen to have a look at the reasons for his team’s ongoing scrum issues.

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The Bulls props have been penalised in every game at scrum time and while the number of penalties per game seems relatively low, they still happen every week.

In Week One props Dean Greyling and Werner Kruger were penalised five times, out of a total of 11 penalties. That number was reduced to four (out of seven) in Week Two and was back up to five (out of 13) the next week. However, the last two weeks it was three scrum penalties out of nine and two out of 14.

“It is certainly something that can be fixed,” Ludeke told this website in an interview, after his team’s narrow 17-20 loss to the Stormers at Newlands at the weekend.

The Bulls mentor said he did not want to talk too much about possible reason until he had time to analyse it properly.

“Once I have done my video review, I’d be able to say more about those issues,” Ludeke told this website, adding: “If it comes down to us to be mare accurate and apply better technique we would certainly do that.”

The Bulls coach was full of praise for both his own team and the opposition, following what he described as a “titanic battle” in Cape Town at the weekend.

“In games like these the players put everything into it [the game] and you could see it, they put their bodies on the line,” he said, adding that there appeared to be no major injuries.

However, there is no let-up for his side, as they return to Pretoria to face the seven-time champion Crusaders on Saturday.

“That is Super Rugby for you,” he said, adding: “You have to give your all, fall short and then next week you play a team that has been competitive for more than 15 years.”

Ludeke said his team will reflect and get closure on this past weekend’s game and look at the positives.

“There are many positives to take from the game,” Ludeke said of the three-point loss – courtesy of a Peter Grant penalty three minutes from time.

“One or two things put us under pressure in the game. It was a titanic battle on the gain line – the tackles and collisions were enormous.

“It was all very even and it came down to one or two decisions we could have made at the breakdown and scrums that cost us through penalties. But we are looking forward to the next game.

“That is what you need to do, you must have the ability, mentally and physically, to bounce back from these things [defeats].”

Ludeke explained that difference between the first and second half – after his team came from 0-14 down at the break to level it up at 17-all  going into the final 10 minutes, came down to doing was obvious things – like playing in the right areas, not conceding penalties and to be more patient when you get into the right areas to put points on the board.

“We created good opportunities,” he said, adding: “It was good and important to see that we had the ability to come back [from 0-14 down] against a team that was playing good rugby.”