Pretoria - The Bulls are experiencing a resurgence under John Mitchell and have risen to second in the South African Conference, but the coach insists that it is not all about winning.
Always philosophical, the former All Blacks mentor is on a mission to restore pride to the franchise, its supporters and Loftus.
Team culture is a massive part of that ambition, and Mitchell explained on Thursday that winning rugby matches was only part of the aim at the Bulls this season.
"Winning pays the bills, but winning is not the be all and end all," said Mitchell.
"What's important is creating a tribe ... an excited tribe ... of people that feel like they belong and that we create an atmosphere at home that people want to come to.
"At the end of the day we're having greater thinking around doing something for a larger group of people than ourselves.
"Our community is very important.
"We have to earn that right. We're working very hard to convince the people that our style of football, or values and the way we go about things is very much aligned to what people want to be part of.
"If we can continue to demonstrate that and, along the way, get good performances then I'm sure we'll be able to attract more people and they'll be excited about coming along to Loftus."
The next assignment for the Bulls is a home clash against the Rebels at Loftus on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 15:05.
Teams:
Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Johnny Kotze, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Divan Rossouw, Handre Pollard, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Pierre Schoeman
Substitutes: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Frans van Wyk, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Shaun Adendorff, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Duncan Matthews
Rebels
15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Jack Maddocks, 13 Tom English, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Michael Ruru, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Angus Cottrell, 6 Ross Haylett-Petty, 5 Adam Coleman (captain), 4 Matt Philip, 3 Sam Talakai, 2 Anaru Rangi, 1 Tetera Faulkner
Substitutes: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Fereti Sa’aga, 18 Jermaine Ainsley, 19 Geoff Parling, 20 Richard Hardwick, 21 Harrison Goddard, 22 Billy Meakes, 23 Sefa Naivalu
