AUDIO: Bulls a 'more complete side'
The Stormers head to Pretoria this weekend for the famous North-South derby and Fleck knows that his team will face some different challenges at Loftus Versfeld.
Despite only winning one of their five matches so far this season, the Bulls have shown some signs of improvement under Mitchell.
"They [Bulls] have gone through some changes and I think it is some necessary changes and some good changes," said Fleck. "They are also looking for that all-round game.
"I don't think we can be led too far down the line that they are just an all-out attacking side. Mitch has kept some traditional strengths – they still got an effective maul and they still got an effective kicking game when they need to use it but they have improved in other areas which makes them a more complete side and likewise for us.
"Traditionally we have been about running rugby in the past and I think now we have got a good balance to the way we want to play. We certainly are stronger up front than what we have been in the past and we got to keep working on those strengths.
"It is good to see that both teams kept their traditional strengths but have also improved in other areas of the game."
Saturday's encounter will be the Stormers' first South African derby this year and Fleck knows how important it is to beat teams in their own conference and build on their two home wins against the Blues and the Reds.
"Every home game is massively important regardless of the opposition. Tours have been difficult for everyone including the Kiwi sides and including the Australian sides.
"Teams are struggling to win away from home and therefore the next important thing is that you need to beat everyone in your group.
"Yes, it is a derby and we are facing derby matches over the next four weeks – it is important to win your home games and extremely important to beat the other guys in your group.
"It is a big game for everybody and we understand that, and the Bulls understand that. They are coming back from a tough tour as well, but Mitch is experienced enough to move on from that and take the good learnings like we did from our tour and try and put the positives in place for this game.
"They are in similar situation to what we were two weeks back. We got our campaign back on track and they have to get theirs back on track. It is a massive game for both sides," Fleck added.
By Warren Fortune
@FortuneWarren
@rugby365com
