White reveals management plan ahead of URC's final round

REACTION: The Bulls are set to use their United Rugby Championship stars in the Currie Cup over the next few weeks.

Jake White’s side stayed in contention for a home URC quarterfinal after they recorded a 29-17 bonus-point win over Glasgow Warriors in a Round 17 clash in Pretoria on Friday.

The Bulls will face Ospreys in their final round-robin game on May 20 and White will have a management plan in place to ensure his team will be at their best for that fixture in Swansea.

White has previously sent his stars to the Currie Cup side for midweek matches even though they had a URC game on the weekend as well.

Those Currie Cup matches helped his players in terms of match readiness and he will be hoping for the same over the next three weeks.

There will not be midweek matches this time around as the Bulls will be up against Griquas on Saturday, May 7 and then against the Golden Lions on Saturday, May 14 ahead of that fixture in Swansea.

“We probably learnt that when we played Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, we were really good,” White told reporters after Friday’s match.

“I am not saying we want to keep playing like that, but we looked a bit flat last week against Benetton because we had two weeks off.

“There is probably going to be a little bit of management in terms of keeping the squad hungry and fresh, but also maybe giving some guys some limited time on the bench.

“Like tonight [Friday], Harold Vorster didn’t do much and we didn’t need to use him because Cornal [Hendricks] and Lionel [Mapoe] played quite well.

“Maybe next week we might give Harold a go [in the Currie Cup].

“I will have to look at the combinations and see who is available.

“We got five guys going to the [Springbok] alignment camp and that disrupts the preparation as well.”

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‘A little bit of naivety’

Despite Friday’s victory, White knows that his team is still not the finished product.

“They [Glasgow] have been consistent and I think they have always been near the top of the log since it [URC] started,” said White.

“I’m very happy and we got a bonus point. We showed lots of character from where we were a couple of weeks ago.”

He added: “We didn’t play well and when I say that, it doesn’t sound right.

“I thought we played well at times and we probably showed a little bit of naivety in terms of game management.

“Last week we were 31-21 up [against Benetton] and it was almost like we wanted to start showing the crowd we can play and we let them back in again. Tonight [Friday], we did the same.

“We wrestled them and wrestled them and when I thought we had done enough, we start going into a different style.

“We got to be careful because when you play good sides like this, it can come back to bite you.”

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