The Bulls are favorites to stop Benetton and advance to the top four of Vodacom URC, but Jake White says nothing can be taken for granted when the teams clash on Saturday.
Having won their first SA Shield against the Sharks last week, the Bulls must now prove they can overpower a play-off-caliber opposition with a late burst when they face Benetton at Loftus Versfeld.
The White’s Charge attempted nine attempts to beat the Italians in round 17, but Benetton finished strong, scoring five times and scoring twice in the final 15 minutes.
Herd were humbled 35-8 when the two teams met in the 2021 Rainbow Cup final in Treviso, and speaking to the media on Friday, White said how these past experiences will prepare the team for this week’s must-win rematch. I shared what I did.
“As a coach, they (the players) will never forget that (Rainbow Cup loss) because people thought we should have won,” he told reporters at the team announcement conference.
Team: Bulls tackle Benetton without Bok champions.
“And the other thing is, we were up 50 points and won by 50 or 35 points the last time we played. For those 20 minutes they were very good.
“It’s fun to look at those games and see how those lessons will help us in our preparation. Because I saw it, I said, ‘Be careful. There’s no need to say, ‘You can play,’ because you’ve seen it, ‘Be careful. There’s no need to say, ‘They could beat us.’
“All I have to do is have team conversations throughout the week and say, ‘Guys, remember.’ The good thing is that most of them were part of it.
“They beat us convincingly in the Rainbow Cup and played really well for a 20-minute block (three weeks ago) where we left them dead. So we know we still have to get the job done.”
What may give Benetton some hope, aside from scoring five tries against the Bulls in their most recent visit, is that the Bulls have conceded 54 tries in 18 league games.
But White’s side boast the best attack power in URC with a league-leading 85 tries and 639 points, and the director of rugby believes the evolution of the Bulls’ style of play has made them up to the challenge.
Read more: Fans clap Bulls, Stormers into semi-finals.
“I’m happy to sit here and answer questions because I remember when I started here. People said things like ‘Bull is boring’ and ‘Jake Ball’ and all that,” he said.
“And now all of a sudden we’ve broken the record for most goals in a season with 85 attempts, so we’ve evolved. We haven’t forgotten that we can score molly attempts, or that our scrum is incredibly powerful. The Sharks demolished Gloucester and we demolished the Sharks’ Springbok front row last week.
“I always ask, ‘Where is Scrum? I get asked, ‘Aren’t you worried about Scrum?’ Now we are in the playoffs. A strong scrum, lots of goals, a good record at home, the opportunity to play at Loftus twice in these two big games, the rotation and depth of our team.
“As a coach, I can’t sit here other than being very, very happy and very satisfied with where we are as a group.
“If you look at how well we did against them (Benetton)… There is no reason why we should not support it. Because we can score points. This is us strengthening our defense even more. “We missed it and they went and scored five tries and questioned our defence.”
Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
