Western Force coach Michael Foley's challenge is to get his players up for next weekend's Super Rugby clash with the Sharks after suffering a heartbreaking loss to the Bulls in Pretoria.
Bulls five-eighth Handre Pollard slotted his sixth penalty goal of the match with 35 seconds on the clock to clinch a 25-24 win, denying the Force a rare victory for Australian teams at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday morning (AEDT).
The Force's South African No.10 Sias Ebersohn looked to have secured victory inside the final two minutes when he landed a 60-metre penalty to put the Perth-based outfit up by two points before they were left shattered.
"I know our guys are incredibly gutted in there but they will take some time off to rest and we'll get back into it," Foley said.
Foley's side would have become the first Australian team to win a regular season Super Rugby game at Loftus Versfeld since 2007.
The Force's tour of South Africa now heads to Durban where they'll face the Sharks on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
"Coming to Loftus and playing the Bulls and Durban to play the Sharks should motivate you, it shouldn't be daunting," Foley said.
"Our challenge is to back up this performance and test the Sharks because they are a good side."
Foley is taking plenty of positives from the Pretoria clash with Adam Coleman, Sam Wykes and Kyle Godwin all scoring five-pointers in the three-tries-to-one performance.
"I feel very proud actually to come here and get three tries and certainly in the fashion that the players got them in, and to resist some of the pressure at some of the different times of the game," Foley said.
The Bulls' only try to Marcel van der Merwe came when the Force were down to 13 men with Coleman and Tetera Faulkner in the sin bin.
Pollard's match-winning penalty came after Force hooker Nathan Charles was penalised for a dangerous tackle.
The Bulls have now won three straight, while the Force suffered a fifth straight loss.
The Force played some attacking and enterprising rugby, but ultimately they gave away too many penalties.
"The ball movement was good and our young centres (Luke Burton, Godwin) played very well and I thought they probably outplayed the Bulls centres (Jan Serfontein, JJ Engelbrecht) who are very good players," Foley said.
"Credit to the Bulls for finding a way even though the game was with us for a large part of it. They found a way to get the result."
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