Looking to shift gears at the business end of the season, Jake White wants the Vodacom Bulls to deliver a dominant performance from start to finish against Benetton on Saturday.
The Bulls host the Italian outfit in round 17 of the Vodacom URC at Loftus Versfeld. With two rounds of the regular season remaining, White’s charges are in fourth place, while Benetton remains in the race to the final eight from the final playoff position.
Flyhalf Johan Goosen links up with Embrose Papier in the starting XV as the only change to the Bulls team that beat the Glasgow Warriors in Pretoria last week, with Chris Smith moving to the replacements bench.
Leading 37-10 entering the final quarter, a Smith penalty put the hosts just out of reach after the Warriors fell short with a second-half comeback as the Bulls won 40-34 in Pretoria, and speaking to the media on Friday, White highlighted the benchmark for success this week.
“A lot has been made out – and quite rightly so – that we probably took our foot off the gas [against Glasgow]… [That] we probably let them in, we were a little bit sloppy, and we got seduced by the fact that we thought it was going to be easy at the end after being 37-10 up,” he told reporters.
TEAM: Goosen back to tackle Benetton
“But that result after tomorrow will either be helluva important or immaterial. What is important is that we play as well as did for those 58 minutes throughout every game going forward now.
“As the competition gets to the playoffs stages and the top eight teams are competing, if you’re not on song for 80 minutes you could lose.
“We could’ve quite easily lost last week if we hadn’t taken that penalty and kicked it over from 55 metres.”
“To get Glasgow 37-10 after 58 minutes… yes, there’s altitude but you’re talking about a dominant performance where, to be fair, 37-10 could’ve been 40-something 10,” the director of rugby added.
“That’s as close to, and I wouldn’t say perfect, but as good as it gets when you play a team like Glasgow. There were times when it was outstanding, with the forwards and the backs, and the set piece was really strong.
“What am I going to take into this game? Those 60 minutes are going to be the benchmark for how we want to finish for 80 minutes.”
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
