Nortjé: Bulls have to be better against Cardiff

2026-03-18 - 12:51

Bulls lock Ruan Nortjé said his side have to turn up the heat in several departments come their United Rugby Championship clash with Cardiff on Friday night. The teams meet at Loftus (kick-off 7pm) after the Pretoria union were soundly beaten 32-19 by the Stormers, also at home, last weekend. Errors and poor discipline cost the Bulls as they received two yellow cards and had a penalty try counted against them, though both occurred for the Stormers. The visitors, however, dominated scrums and lineouts, and scored three tries to one in the second half to extend their 10-7 lead to a bonus-point win. The Stormers were also better in the air, retaining six of their kicks versus the Bulls’ four, and had a lower penalty count (seven to 15). Nortjé said early handling errors shifted momentum from the Bulls, and the Stormers were simply more desperate to win. “Mentally, I don’t know if we were not 100% there, but you need to be there against the Stormers,” the forward said. “You have to give all the credit to the Stormers for pitching up and being more clinical... The Stormers were under a lot of pressure after three losses in a row and they stepped up.” Bulls have to improve in the air Nortjé described the Stormers’ kicking game as “brilliant”. “They won the [aerial] scraps 80% of the time. In today’s game, that is where a big part of the game lies.” Cardiff are top of the URC stats in kicking, with 383 kicks from hand and 86 retained kicks. The Bulls, by contrast, are 15th, with 279 kicks from hand and 42 retained. “Cardiff is one of the teams that puts in the most kicks in a game. That will be a massive battle,” Nortjé added. “We need to make sure we are sharper in that department. We know we can be much better than we were the previous week.” The forward also spoke of lineouts, where the Bulls are traditionally strong, but this year rank 14th with just 82% success and the third-lowest number of steals (nine). “The quality in our jumping, lifting and throwing were just not on par. Luckily, we have another opportunity this weekend to be much better than we were.”