Handre Pollard believes character-building season will serve Bulls well in URC final

The Bulls could not have had a worse start to their URC campaign after losing six of their first seven games. The run resulted in Johan Ackermann coming in to take charge of the team, replacing Jake White.

The Pretoria men halted the slump by going back to the basics in relying on a forwards-based approach focused on dominating the set pieces, backed up by solid kicking.

They ground out results, often having to dig deep and show a lot of heart to come from behind but hardships and the experience will prove beneficial to the Bulls in the final, according to Pollard.

"People think there was some dramatic meeting where harsh things were said, but it was nothing like that," he said.

"All along, we have just agreed to work as hard as we can, play for each other, while refining our game plan a bit here and there.

"We've come out of so many holes as a group this season. Just last week, when we were down 21-3 in the semi-final against the Warriors, we looked each other in the eye and resolved to turn it around.

"That type of character is invaluable. When it's going too well, you don't necessarily get the opportunity to build that character.

"If we need it again in the final, then we've been there before, and we trust ourselves to get out of it again. I think that's a very good characteristic that we have in this team.

"This year, we had to work really hard to get where we are. In our heads, we feel we've worked extremely hard. We're going to go out there in the final and repeat that. If the cards don't fall our way, then that's rugby. But we've worked really hard to get ourselves here.

"After that tough time in the season, we got clarity in the way we wanted to play, and that has shown in the last few games of the season. It's very special for us to be in the Grand Final and we're excited to have this opportunity."

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