Handré Pollard kept Bulls engine purring smoothly, says Ackermann

Cool-headed Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard kept the Bulls’ engine purring smoothly over rocky terrain when they romped to a 52-17 win over the Lions on Saturday, coach Johan Ackermann said.

A rejuvenated Bulls side came out with all guns blazing to outscore the Lions by eight tries to two in a lopsided United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at Ellis Park.

An explosive display left Ackermann beaming after his team exceeded his high expectations.

“We wanted to mix it up a bit, and the boys got the balance right,” he said.

“Handré has come in for quite a bit of stick recently, and he didn’t have the best start, but he grew into the game in the second half and was pulling the strings nicely. It’s because of the kind of player he is, and he’s hard on himself. The good thing about Handré is he doesn’t let mistakes make him negative,” Ackermann said.

“Scrumhalf Ambrose Papier’s kicking game was spot on. It allowed us to contest those balls. He’s also got a lot of speed if he gets a little sniff of a break. There were one or two opportunities probably out wide as well, but we felt the forwards did well, and we just stuck to that,” the coach said.

“The first few aerial contests went our way, and those are the fine margins of this game.”

Ackermann said he is proud of the effort his players put in at Ellis Park.

“There were games in the past that didn’t go our way, so you take the wins like this,” he said. “I’m just proud of the guys, of the effort, because it takes a lot of effort to play as we did.”

Despite the big winning margin, Ackermann said it was not a perfect display.

“We made a few mistakes back-to-back, but luckily we didn’t concede,” he said. “When we got it going, we really did well. I always felt that it was going to happen. We just had to get the passes sticking and get the momentum going.

“The first half exceeded our expectations. We played really well. One or two mistakes, but we bounced back well from that,” he said.

Ackermann, who returned to his former home ground in Johannesburg, could not have wished for a better outcome

“I’ve got close ties with the Lions and always will have,” he said.

There are still a lot of quality teams to play. If we can keep enjoying what we’re doing and stay in touch, anything can happen.

—  Johan Ackermann

“A lot of memories came back when I walked onto the field for the first time. Those are memories that last forever, but you start building new ones. I’m with a new team now, and I’m building new relationships.

“They’re my sons now — the players I’m looking after — and I wanted them to do well,” he said.

Ackermann said he is delighted the victory enabled his team to move into the top eight on the URC log.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position, but we’ve achieved nothing yet,” he said.

“There are still a lot of quality teams to play. If we can keep enjoying what we’re doing and stay in touch, anything can happen.”

The win enabled the Bulls to avenge their 43-33 loss against the Lions at Loftus at the end of 2025.