VIDEO: The moment White knew the Bulls won
WATCH as Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White pinpoints a crucial moment in the match where his side beat the Sharks 25-13 to advance to the United Rugby Championship Final.
The Bulls came into the semifinal having lost twice to the Sharks during the regular season.
It’s often said in any sport that “defence wins championships” and the Bulls were a bit fragile in that department in their quarterfinal clash against Edinburgh a week ago.
On Saturday against the Sharks, however, it’s their defensive heroics at crucial stages of the match that had a massive impact on the outcome.
The Sharks had ample opportunities to score throughout the match but the Bulls kept them out more often than not.
There was one moment in particular where White felt that his troops had the result in the bag following a specific defensive display.
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“Just before half-time [playing] with 12 men it didn’t look like they [the Sharks] were going to score.
“That’s a massive boost to the defence coach and the players. I said to them in the changeroom that’s where we won the game.
“Sometimes you think you win a game with a kick in the last minute – it’s not that, it’s what you do in certain periods.
“We were 12 out of 10 there for the way we showed attitude.
“Again I’ll say it confidently, I sat there thinking ‘I don’t think they are going to score here’ because we were fronting up well there.
White added: “You can imagine coming into a changeroom at half-time without conceding a try you come in with a very different vibe than you would’ve if you conceded a try moments before.”
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