The glaring 'void' in the SA game
Some will celebrate the rush of young talent flooding the Currie Cup, but Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White has cautioned against the ‘void’ that is having a massive impact on the game in South Africa.
Speaking ahead of his team’s United Rugby Championship encounter with the Lions, White admitted it is a challenge to run two teams in two separate competitions – unlike Currie Cup rivals such as the Cheetahs, Griquas and Pumas, who all only focus on the Currie Cup.
However, the biggest challenge, according to White, is to find the right balance between bringing young players through the system and having the experience to guide them.
“You can get the Morne Steyns, the Bismarck du Plessis and the Deon Fouries through – Brok Harris coming back,” White told a virtual media briefing.
“It is fantastic that those [senior] players are coming back and sharing their intellectual property.
“However, there is a void in terms of the middle age group.
“It is great to have Jan-Hendrik [Wessels, 20], [Reinhardt] Ludwig [19] and Cameron Hanekom [19].
“You can look at some of the youngsters coming through at the Lions and the Stormers.
“As exciting as it is to see these youngsters coming through, the one area we are going to have to look at, is how do we get that middle tier of players to stay in South Africa.”
He suggests that the middle layer of players is what is needed to make the South African squads much more competitive.
“All the teams are suffering from the same issue.
“There is not just a significant difference to your performance, but also your training. That is what most teams are struggling with.”
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The World Cup-winning former Springbok coach said there is also a ‘long game’ to look at.
The Bulls have suffered two big defeats in recent weeks – losing to the Stormers in a URC match a fortnight ago and also losing to the Cheetahs in a midweek Currie Cup outing this past Wednesday.
He said there is no reason to panic after a couple of losses, drawing a parallel with the 10-time champion Crusaders’ first foray into Super Rugby in 1996.
“Look, we don’t want to lose anywhere,” White said about the two recent losses at Loftus – his first home defeats since taking up his post at Loftus.
“It doesn’t matter where we play,” he added.
“We don’t want a situation where winning at Loftus becomes more important than the end game and that’s something we’re mindful of.
“This group is growing together. It’s their first year in Europe.
“In 1996, the Crusaders came last in that first edition of Super Rugby and went on to become the most dominant team in the history of the competition.”
White believes the Bulls are going through similar growing pains.
“It took the Crusaders one to two years to find out about recruiting, game plans, coaching staff, whatever they had to work on,” he said.
“Look at the success they achieved eventually.”
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