Defensive disaster leaves Johan Ackermann searching for answers after Bristol blowout

Takling was optional in the 16-try bonanza at Loftus Versveld. The Bulls missed 32 out of 132 tackles, while the Bears missed 41. It translated to a 76 percent tackle completion rate for both teams.

Coming off the back of having Springbok assistant coaches Jerry Flannery, Felix Jones and Duane Vermeulen in camp as specialist support, it's not a good look.

"It’s a concern if you miss tackles and if a team scores the number of tries that Bristol scored," Ackermann told the media in the wake of their seventh consecutive loss across all competitions.

"It is something that we are not proud of, and we felt it went up last week [against the Stormers], where we got more dominant hits, and we won many more collisions.

"We disappointed ourselves, especially in that first half [against Bristol]. We will definitely work on it. We won’t give up on it.

"Ultimately, the players will force my hand as well. If a player is consistently missing tackles, we need to start looking at bringing in players who are not going to miss those tackles. It’s definitely something we will keep working on."

Another concern for the Bulls is that key senior players failed to stand up, with mistakes from Handre Pollard and Willie le Roux costing the team dearly. Both players were guilty of throwing intercept passes that led to tries on Saturday.

"No player goes out to make a mistake, and obviously, there is a bit more expectation on your senior players," Ackermann continued.

"Is it because they are trying harder and harder and want to do stuff by themselves? The reality is we’re playing a lot of rugby against ourselves by the kind of mistakes we make - giving possession away, which results in pressure, especially in our own half.

"At one stage, we got it right and then suddenly you give away intercept tries because you start forcing things.

"It is something we will have to address in our review, but the reality is that our error rate is just too high and our turnovers are just too high."

The Bulls now face a tricky trip to Pau in France to face Top 14 outfit Section Paloise on Friday.