Head Coach Jake White on Bulls' URC Run: “We’ve Been in Knockout Mode for Weeks”

The Bulls safely secured second place in the final United Rugby Championship standings with their 55-15 demolition of the Dragons at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, and coach Jake White believes they have shown their readiness for knockout rugby a.k.a. the quarterfinals. 

The two-time URC finalists will take on Edinburgh in Pretoria on May 31 in the last eight and are coming off a six-game winning streak in the competition. 

Leinster finished eight points ahead of the Bulls in first place, but the Irish giants have struggled in recent years to turn their thoroughly dominant form in round-robin play into trophies, their last major title being won in the 2021 URC final.

Leo Cullen's team have enormous depth and regularly rotate their starting XV, but critics say the first-choice team rests too often and then has not gelled properly or lacks sharpness when it comes to the knockout games at the end of the season.

White said it is a conundrum as one also needs fresh players for the season finale. 

"Only what happens on June 14 [URC final] can answer that question," White told SportsBoom.co.za when asked if he felt he had got the balance right between team cohesion and freshness going into the playoffs. 

"If you rest players and then they look underdone, then you're open to criticism. But it could also backfire if you keep playing your best team, or it could be called a masterstroke if it works out."

"In our case, we couldn't afford to go too far away from what we have put out on the field because we have a lot of players unavailable and the last four or five weeks have been knockout rugby - we had to win or we would not get a home semifinal."

"So the team has shown they are able to handle the pressure of big games. You can't go away from wanting cohesion and being ready to play playoff rugby. Which is why I took Ruan Nortje off with 14 minutes left, leaving us with one forward short. I didn't want to risk him when we had already won the game, and it allowed me to see if the team were clever enough to manage the game with 14 men and not go in unnecessarily at the breakdown and use four-man lineouts with a new caller. It worked perfectly. But that sort of thing you can only do on the run, you can't plan it," White said.

Dragons all at sea

The Bulls were utterly dominant against the Dragons, who were all at sea in the scrums and at the breakdowns. That ensured the home side enjoyed 57% of possession and they put it to good use in scoring nine tries.

The Bulls opened the scoring in the fifth minute and they were 26-0 up at halftime; it was a one-sided match in which the winners could easily have become too loose and lost focus.

"These are the sort of games you worry about because you can lose shape, the guys can play as individuals and not stick to your structure," White told SportsBoom.co.za. 

"But we looked really well organised in both halves, both on defence and attack, which was very pleasing because a match like that can become like a Sevens runaround."

Bulls not yet safely in port

But the World Cup winning coach stressed that the good ship Bulls is not yet safely in port and their campaign will be judged on what they do in the knockout rounds.

"Our defence has been much better this season in terms of tries conceded, and we've scored more points and had more wins than we ever have in the URC, so there are a lot of positives. The job is done, but that's just the first round."

"We're fortunate to be second and in a really good position. But we will be judged on our last three games, so that's when you want to be at your best. We lost to Edinburgh in the Challenge Cup quarterfinal so I won't have to talk them up, the players know they are a serious team."

"In the playoffs, you have to beat the top teams, it doesn't really matter who you face. And in the three seasons we've played in the URC, the team that finished first on the log has not hosted the final," White pointed out.

Inspiration in knockouts

The Bulls were also mourning the passing last week of Springbok wing Cornal Hendricks, who spent six years playing in Pretoria, and White said the tragic death of the much-loved 37-year-old could serve to inspire his team in the knockout stages.

"It's been a bit tough and people forget how young our guys are. It's been a very different week. Sometimes a team needs a 'Why' to win a trophy; as Winston Churchill said, 'In adversity there is opportunity'. These are young guys on a learning curve and they need to know that rugby is not the real world."

"It's a part of coaching too for me to try and say the right thing at the right time. It was very difficult at the start of the week and I didn't say anything about Cornal before the game because I didn't want to play with their emotions. But now, after a week off, maybe we can use that emotional energy. Maybe the extra emotion will give us something, the added emotion of who we are playing for [Cornal] will maybe give us an extra boost because we've missed something in the two finals we've lost," White said.