White: ‘Tough game against Munster will show if Bulls have grown’

The Bulls are eager to see the growth of their team as they face a tough Munster side in their United Rugby Championship match at Loftus on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 4:05pm).

The Bulls head into the game off the back of a thumping 45-7 win over Benetton two weeks ago, while Munster also come into the match with plenty of confidence after a 64-3 thrashing of the Dragons last weekend.

“I watched their game last week and they played really well, I think it was a record score they got and they will obviously have a massive amount of confidence from that game,” said Bulls director of rugby Jake White.

“Although they are missing a few players they have got incredible depth and they are one of the sides from an Irish point of view whose whole structure is very strong. They are going to be as good as we expect them to be and we are going to have to play well to beat them.

“We are at home, it’s a massive game and we have to get up and play well. I am looking forward to the game. We haven’t played a tough game for a while now and this is a chance to see whether we have grown as a team.”

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Despite having Morne Steyn available for selection after his suspension for foul play was reduced by a week, the Bulls have opted to keep faith with Chris Smith who has been in top form, after he was man of the match against Benetton and man of the match in their Currie Cup game this past weekend.

“He was man of the match last time we played and he has been training with that backline, so we just thought it would be less of a disruption leaving him there,” explained White about his unchanged team.

“Also, at the back end of a game to have Morne’s experience there as well will be important, so there are a lot of factors, but we also need to reward players that have done well and Chris has done really well.”

The Bulls will also have to be wary of two South Africans in the Munster line-up, with Springbok centre Damian de Allende returning from injury and in-form loose forward Chris Cloete both eager to impress against SA opposition.

“They are very good players. Damian de Allende has won a World Cup and if they bring him straight back into their team it shows the value of him and he has been very good for them. So it’s going to be an area of the game we are going to have to try and control,” said White.