Bulls director of rugby Jake White hailed his players after they clinched a deserved 26-19 victory over Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship (URC) encounter at Scotstoun.
The clash was a repeat of last season’s URC final which the Warriors won against great odds in Pretoria, but the Bulls were full value for Friday’s triumph as they dominated proceedings for long periods.
The visitors held a 26-7 lead during the game’s latter stages before late tries from Kyle Steyn and Stafford McDowall secured the home side a crucial losing bonus point.
That means the Warriors are still in second position in the standings on 59 points while the Bulls are just one point adrift in third spot with both sides having played 16 matches.
The Bulls will now head to Pretoria – after four weeks on the road following Challenge Cup matches against Bayonne and Edinburgh as well as another URC game against Munster – where they are set to face Cardiff and the Dragons in their last two URC league matches.
White couldn’t hide his delight with the performance of his charges after the win over Glasgow and said they will take a deserved break before returning to action against Cardiff on May 10.
“It takes a massive effort, especially because it was away from home. I’m just very happy that in a short week, we’ve been able to replicate what we did last week (against Munster), which was show a lot of heart,” he said.
“Defensively, we were outstanding last week and this week. It’s a very good way to finish the tour, because now we head back and we’ve got two home games. Destiny is now in our hands, which is fantastic.
“Being on tour for four weeks is difficult. It takes a lot out of the players and they’re away from their families. I can only be proud with that performance, because it sets us up nicely for when we get home and we can really prepare properly for the back-end of the competition.”
The former Springboks mentor hailed his players’ ability to control the big moments in tight matches but feels his side are not the finished article yet.
“It’s the ability to understand how we can take another step up,” he said.
“This is a very talented Bulls team, and I’m not just saying that because I’m the coach. There are 17 or 18 guys being included in the Springbok alignment camps, so the challenge for me is just to find a bit extra in terms of our cohesion and desire to do well.
“To get those sorts of accolades on a tour is something that just shows resilience, and that is what coaches want.
“If we’re going to win this competition, we’re going to have to beat big sides away from home. What’s really nice is we’ve proven that our away games are as good as our home games at times, and that’s the thing I’m most pleased about.
“We’ve got a bit of fight in us. We don’t get sucked into what is happening around the field.
“We’re still not where we need to be. I don’t want to jump the gun… but we’ll grow and wins like this can only make you a better team.
“It’s back-to-back wins away from home against two teams that have won the tournament in two years… it says a lot about how we are growing as a group.”
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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/jake-white-reveals-the-most-pleasing-aspect-about-his-bulls-side-after-victory-over-glasgow-warriors
