Bulls a different beast under Jake White

CURRIE CUP SPOTLIGHT: After finishing on top of the Currie Cup standings, Jake White reflected on how far his team has come since he took over.

White was unveiled as the Bulls’ Director of Rugby last year and he also took over the head coach duties from Pote Human, who was granted an early release from his contract in May.

Since taking control of the team, the Bulls won the Super Rugby Unlocked title and they head into next week’s Currie Cup semifinals with home-ground advantage.

And while White knows his team can make it all the way, they are still wary of a Lions team who lost only one of their six Currie Cup matches this year, a little more than a week ago against the Bulls in Pretoria (15-22).

“The big thing now is, we have to win,” said White.

“We have an opportunity to win the last two games of the season. We worked incredibly hard to reach the play-offs and if we can beat the Lions in the semifinal, we’ll have a home Final at Loftus.

“If you think where we came from – eight months ago we were nowhere, we lost six straight in Super Rugby and a year ago we finished seventh in the Currie Cup – but now we must use the positive energy around the team.

“We have a big chance to win the Currie Cup, playing at home where we haven’t lost. It’s up to us now to ensure we don’t lose that record.”

#ICYMI: After reading this you’ll understand why they are RWC winners https://t.co/DhT83A8AKV

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While the Lions are going into the semifinal off the back of their defeat against the men from Pretoria, the Bulls also lost their last league game of the season, 14-44 against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Sunday.

“It’s never nice to lose and the Pumas deserve a lot of credit for the way they played, but the most important thing for me was that we had no injuries – I was worried that we might lose one or two guys,” said White.

“I was happy with our performance in the second half, where it was 10-7 after we were something like 0-30 down.

“Yes, we didn’t have an ideal build-up to the game, with two games in five days, but that is not an excuse.

“The Pumas played very well and they have shown that it’s never a given that you just arrive in Nelspruit, take the points and then go home.”

Source: SA Rugby