Bulls establish skills hub in search of marginal gains

The Bulls' search for that marginal gain in performance has led them to start their own skills hub. 

Said skills hub is meant to address the union's skills gap – from franchise to schoolboy level – by sending players for individual sessions at the skills centre as well as documenting them to make the improvements measurable. 

To this end, the Tshwane franchise has recruited Sharks assistant coach Phiwe Nomlomo and former Cheetahs and Bulls flyhalf Kennedy Tsimba to run it. Nomlomo, who began working at Loftus this week, held the briefs of skills, off-the-ball work and kicking duties at the Sharks.  

Bulls director of rugby Jake White explained how it's supposed to work. 

"Skills is a massive part of where we are as a union," he said. "Everyone talks about skills coaches and everyone thinks they have an idea. But a skills coach who carries two rugby balls around and warms players up is not a skills coach. 

"We want to try and take our skills development and individual skills improvement seriously, and these two guys are very good at teaching skills. There's a big thing in Australia called skills acquisition, they are the next step [in that direction] for us." 

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Where in the past a skills coach has almost always dealt with just catching and passing, White said the brief would be wider for Nomlomo and Tsimba: "They're going to be coaching all the players in the union skills which won't just be catching and passing, they'll be anything skills-related, like throwing or lifting…  

"They might not necessarily be teaching it but they’ll be co-ordinating it. So, for argument's sake, if we get a thrower in to teach throwers how to throw, they might not be doing it,