Jake White credits ‘group effort’ for Bulls reaching URC final

Bulls director of rugby Jake White has attributed the team’s run to a second United Rugby Championship final to a collective effort from those involved at the franchise.

There’s a buzz in Pretoria, as on Saturday the Bulls will host Scottish side Glasgow Warriors in the final of the URC at Loftus Versfeld (6pm).

The URC Grand Final is on course to sell out as tickets are selling fast with 20,685 sold by Monday morning.

‘A group effort’

The Bulls reaching the final is a testament to how brilliant they have been this season, as the standout team in the competition. Reflecting on making their second URC final in three seasons, White credited everyone at the club from management right through to the players.

“I’d like to take all the credit, but it’s a group effort,” White said.

“I’ve got Edgar Rathbone (the CEO) contracting, we know who we want, and we know the kind of player  we need to get. We don’t have strange guys in our squad; they are good guys, solid kids. There’s an ethos about who we try and recruit at the club.

“The coaches, the game plan has been spot on. The board, the CEO, the coaches, we all understand what kind of player we want.”

Good season

The Bulls started the URC campaign very well, making sure their name was mentioned in the debates about title favourites.

White and his coaching staff leaned on playing an attacking brand of rugby that saw the team blow away many other sides.

The attack was marshalled by flyhalf Johan Goosen with the likes of David Kriel, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Akker van der Merwe scoring a lot of tries.

Home ground advantage

They managed to finish the URC regular season by clinching the South African URC Shield and earning a second-place finish on the points table.

Finishing second gave them home ground in the knockout stages and they have used it to their advantage, defeating Benetton 30-23 in their quarter-final and Leinster 25-20 in the semifinals.

They will look to use it again when they take on the Warriors in the final on Saturday.