Frans Ludeke

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke says his side showed encouraging signs in their defeat to Western Province that they are on the right track.

It has been a tough start to the season for the Pretoria side, with just one win from their four games so far, and they were left disappointed again at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday as the unbeaten Cape side beat them for the second time in a few weeks.

However, despite the frustration of coming up short again, Ludeke was upbeat and took some positives from his side’s performance.

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“Credit to the players it was a huge improvement from the last few days,” Ludeke said.

“That is the way we can get to consistently winning, so there are a lot of positives we can take from this.

The tough encounter was won and lost in the second half, he said.

“At crucial times in that second half we lost momentum because I thought that we almost got control in the game.

“We got the lead on the board but we just did not to exit well enough and gave them that soft moment straight after that.”

The momentum swung in the Bulls’ favour minutes after the break when flanker Jacques du Plessis scored a converted try.

Province, however, scored two tries in quick succession before the Bulls launched a fight back which saw them come within a whisker of claiming the victory.

“The huge positive was the way that the team played for 80 minutes and there were a few youngsters that came through tonight and showed their class,” Ludeke said.

“They also played well tonight and that is why they won, we were maybe one pass away from a win so we didn’t get it but we will keep on working hard and improve every week,” he added.