Jake White expressed his delight with the Vodacom Bulls’ improvement this season after securing a home quarter-final with a big win against Benetton on Saturday. DYLAN JACK reports.
The Vodacom Bulls put nine tries past Benetton in the early afternoon kick-off at Loftus Versfeld to secure a place in the Vodacom URC’s top four for the second time.
After finishing fourth in the inaugural tournament in 2021-22, the Bulls finished seventh last season, but will be South Africa’s best-placed team on the URC log this season.
Speaking after the match against Benetton, White said that he is confident that the Bulls will put in a strong challenge to win the URC title.
“Last year we came seventh. This year, the worst we can finish is fourth. That means it’s already a quarter-final. That’s an improvement on where we were last year,” White said.
“We are there. There’s this thing of you can’t win the lotto if you don’t have the ticket. We still got a ticket and while you have a lotto ticket, there’s hope.
“Are we where I would like us to be? No, if we had beaten Munster, we would be top of the log. That’s the margins of what we sit with. If we won that game with a bonus-point, we would be first or second. That’s how close it is. But there’s no doubt in my mind about the improvement.
“The players have grown massively over the last year. We’ve still got youngsters in our group. So having them signed for another three years, the age profile and experience you have in three year’s time is over 100 URC games and an average age of 26 or 27.
“I am very excited about where we are. The four games we have left, if we go according to how it is now, would be Sharks, Stormers, Glasgow and Leinster. I really believe we are good enough to beat any of those teams. If we can get that right over four consecutive weekends, is what we will get challenged on.”
One big talking point from the Bulls’ last two wins against Benetton and Glasgow Warriors has been their defence. Despite securing early four-try bonus points against both teams, the Bulls also conceded a combined nine tries from the two games.
“It’s coaching. It’s not like you can wave a wand and next week we become such a fantastic defensive team that nobody scores against us. It comes with time, experience and cohesion,” White explained.
“There’s a study on the number of hours that people train and play together and the more they do that, the better the result. So when you have a team like Benetton, 24 of them play in blue jerseys for Italy for one part of the year, that means that the hours for [Juan Ignacio] Brex and [Tommaso] Menoncello is week after week.
“It’s no different to the great Brumbies side, that had great Wallabies like [George] Gregan, [Stephan] Larkham and [Stirling] Mortlock. That’s what happens to really great teams, the longer they train together, the longer they play together, the better they become.
“It’s not like next week, when we are off, I can have a meeting with the boys and suddenly fix it. We have to coach it. We have to create scenarios where we try and get situations where we are under the same pressure. But you can’t replicate game in front of a crowd in a training session. The pressure is very different.
“So I’m not concerned. I’m excited about the way we play now. Can you imagine if we become the best defensive team in this competition? It’s going to be a very difficult team to beat.”
Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
