Bulls must look inwards to bounce back against Sharks: 'We let ourselves down'

The Bulls have reviewed the footage of the five minutes that cost them last weekend's United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against the Stormers in Cape Town, and they believe their mistakes can be managed and rectified against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.

That is the view of Bulls centre Lionel Mapoe, speaking ahead of Saturday's trip to King's Park for a clash that is crucial to both sides in the context of the URC standings. 

The Bulls are 4th on the overall log with 34 points from 10 matches, while the Sharks have 24 points from eight and can make serious ground on the Bulls with victory this weekend. 

The unique New Year's Eve fixture comes a week after the Bulls were rocked by the Stormers at DHL Stadium on 23 December when they conceded three tries in five minutes to lose 37-27. 

Addressing media this week, Mapoe said the Bulls had taken that result hard but that they were working to ensure that such lapses in concentration do not happen again. 

"We went in with a plan last week that didn't work. We let ourselves down and the fans down," he said.

"We first have to fix ourselves and come out onto the field and go through it again with all our training.

"It's not like we went out there on Saturday to just switch off in that period of the game where they scored three tries. We have looked at the video, and it's something we can manage. That shouldn't have happened.

"It's on ourselves to be better than what we were and not have that lapse of concentration."

Turning his attention to the Sharks, Mapoe said he was particularly looking forward to a potential battle with Springbok centres Lukhanyo Am and Rohan Janse van Rensburg. 

"They pose a different challenge and I'm looking forward to playing against them. They're some of