Jake White says breakdown ‘a mess’, first half errors cost Bulls

Bulls director of rugby Jake White gave a no-holds-barred honest opinion of the Bulls’ performance against Northampton Saints, calling out his charges for simply not being up for the big-pressure game.

The Bulls lost 31–20 at home to the English side in the second pool match of the Champions Cup on Saturday.

Numerous knock-ons, two obstructions (one that saw a try disallowed), and failure to finish from advantageous positions cost the Pretoria team. Captain Elrigh Louw and man of the match Cameron Hanekom both used the word “disappointed” when discussing these mistakes.

ALSO READ: Revenge deferred: Costly errors sink Bulls against Saints

The Bulls were looking to bounce back from their 27–5 defeat to the Saracens in their opening game, and perhaps get revenge against Saints for knocking them out of the tournament in the quarter-finals last year.

Now, the Bulls sit at the bottom of pool 3 (placing sixth) with a -31 point difference.

Bulls make error after error

Speaking after the game, White called the Bulls’ play at the breakdown “a mess”.

“We didn’t look after the ball. We knew they were good at going hard at the breakdown and we were sloppy on the ball. Especially in the 22 and that always puts you under pressure,” he said.

White added that though some close refereeing decisions didn’t go their way, the Bulls were responsible for their own demise.

“We must have had 80% territory and 70% possession in the first half and were still down [halftime score 12–7]. You can’t blame the ref for that.

“The Champions Cup is where the big guns come out and if you are not on that level then you’re out.”

Even so, he said the side did well to come back through a try by Marcell Coetzee and two by Cameron Hanekom to trail 22–21 with 10 minutes to play.

“We did not die lying down,” White added. “But there was enough in the first half that we did not take advantage of in the beginning.”

Only time can fix rookie errors

He said little things like Stedman Gans slipping when he and Canan Moodie linked for a run, cost the side.

“The higher up you go [in competitive rugby] the less time and space you get when you get the ball. That is when your skillset gets tested and you get found out – by that I mean we got found out when teams put us under pressure.”

He said senior players made little mistakes when they were younger but they matured. All you can do as a coach is give youngsters the time required at the higher level to learn.

When asked if injuries suffered by frontline players Kurt-Lee Arendse, Ruan Nortje, Cobus Wiese and Johan Grobbelaar could be the cause of the Bulls struggles of late, White said no.

“You have to understand that as a coach you will never have the perfect 23.” He said games and preparation for games are always influenced by injuries

The Bulls will play against the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship next week before travelling to France to play Castres Olympique only on 11 January.