The wheels on the bus go round and round ...

Speaking to the media ahead of their Round Six encounter with the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday, Marais the team still believes in their ability to reach the play-offs.

He spoke about the need to be more accurate and use the opportunities that come their way – which have cost them dearly and left them with just one win in the first five rounds.

The Bulls did beat the Chiefs in a pre-season game in Brisbane early in February, but the team they face on Saturday will have the Chiefs' full compliment of All Blacks – players who did not feature in the Brisbane showdown.

"They will punish you if you give them the ball to play with," Marais said of a much-improved team from that which they faced in per-season.

"We have to limit our mistakes," he said, adding: "Because we have played them already, they are not an unknown side to us.

"We took a lot of confidence from that and if we want to beat them we will have to come out like we did in Brisbane."

He dismissed the suggestion that the wheels are coming off.

"Despite what everybody says, the team is in a good space.

"The players have taken the losses very hard and they know what the things are they need to fix.

"There is a lot of belief in this side.

"It is small things that are costing us at the moment and all we can do is control [fix] that.

"If we want to win the competition we have to compete with and beat the best.

"We are just one win away from turning it all around."

@rugby365com