Bulls praised by White after fighting for bonus-point win over Dragons

Bulls director of rugby Jake White has hailed his team for wrestling their way to an important bonus-point win over Welsh side the Dragons in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday.

The 31-10 win at Rodney Parade, courtesy of tries from Kurt-Lee Arendse, Celimpilo Gumede, Embrose Papier and Johan Grobbelaar, was important for the Bulls and their desire to finish at the summit of the URC points table.

After the victory, the Bulls settled in second place with 45 points.

“We had to work hard until the 82nd minute, but I’m happy we got over the line in the last play of the game because a bonus point at this stage of the tournament is vital for us,” said White.

“Any bonus point is exactly that, a bonus. We want to try to give ourselves the chance of finishing in the top two because we know how important home playoffs are. To stay ahead of Glasgow (who are third with 44 points) by one point was vital for us.”

Difficult Dragons

The Dragons, who are now at the bottom of the URC log, made life difficult for the Bulls in different patches of the game, and White was happy with how his side was able to navigate through the challenges they experienced. 

“What I’m happy about is we found a way to get through that game with problems we haven’t experienced before,” he said.

“It was the first time we had a team do certain things to us at scrum time, line-out time, breakdown time, that we hadn’t experienced this year. It was good we found a way.

“What it does prove is that we are getting older and we are getting wiser. I suppose coaching-wise, by interchanging our group it hasn’t made us weaker.

“In fact, the confidence you get with guys coming off the bench that can finish off the game like that can only be positive.”

Leinster Test

Next for the Bulls is a blockbuster encounter against Irish province Leinster, who are at the top of the points table with 49 points. The two contenders will meet on Friday night at the RDS Main Arena.

White is looking to use the game as a measurement to see where the Bulls are before the playoffs.

“It’s a great benchmark for us to see where we are as a group. It’s an away game playing against a really good team,” he said.

“The bulk of that team played for the Irish team that won back-to-back Six Nations titles, and the bulk of that team have beaten the Boks at the World Cup, so I know it’s going to be a great test match for us to see how good we are.”