Jake confirms Duane's down time

INTERVIEW: It may be crunch time as the run-in to the Currie Cup play-offs approaches, but the Bulls’ coach Jake White is sticking to his guns.

Following last Saturday’s loss to the Sharks, he confirmed that his Bulls captain Duane Vermeulen would get a break over the Christmas period.

Without elaborating, one can deduce that other players will also have a little time off before the team heads into the play-offs with the semifinals on 16 January and the Final the following week.

“No, it doesn’t change my plan,” he said about his decision to rest players following the loss to the Sharks.

The rugby unions and franchises are awaiting a proposal about next year’s rugby programme from SA Rugby.

“If things go the way that they could go, we could be playing rugby in January, then have a couple of weeks off; start again in March and be playing all the way until the following year,” surmised White.

“And If you consider that amount of continuous rugby with the same group of players, I am going to have to try different combinations.

“I’m going to have to experiment and give guys opportunities to see them.

“Remember, some of their contracts end next year October.

“I’m going to have to have a look and see whether we keep them, whether they fit into the way we want to play. So no, it doesn’t change anything.

“What it does do is give me the opportunity to, and that was always going to be the case, be honest with the players and try and build a group of players together so that over the next couple of years we can be a force.”

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