‘There’s no magic potion, we have to keep believing,’ says Bulls boss White

Bulls director of rugby Jake White has compared his team’s push to make the URC playoffs to a golfer trying to make the halfway cut in a tournament.

The Bulls (43) are sixth in the points table, with the Sharks seventh (41), Connacht eighth (39), Cardiff ninth (39) and Benetton 10th (38).

Only the top eight advance to the playoffs, with all these teams, except Cardiff who have two games left, having three games left to play.

‘No magic potion’

“We need to get a win, that’s the most important thing,” said White ahead of his team’s match against Ulster in Belfast on Saturday night (9.35pm).

“We’ve got three games left. It’s like a golfer having three long par fours into the wind remaining and needing a birdie or two to make the cut.”

The Bulls have had an up and down time of it recently, with both the URC side and the Currie Cup team struggling for victories.

“There’s no magic potion, no magic wand (to change things for the Bulls),” said White.

“You just have to keep going, and hopefully the cycle turns. You have got to keep believing, keep working hard.

“We still have our destiny in our own hands. It’s a competition … just look at the Boks at the World Cup in 2019, they lost the opening game (against New Zealand) and went on to win.

“We need to get into the playoffs and then it’s a new competition again, with three game to play. No one has won anything yet.”

Changing combinations

White, who has chopped and changed his team, trying different combinations, during the URC so far, said it was now important for him to stick to this group of players who are in Belfast for the remainder of the competition.

“I’ve been reflecting and reading a lot recently. Maybe if I’d stuck with the same group week in and week out we’d have got different results, but I’m not convinced. That’s something I’ll only know at the end of the season when we do a review.

“I need to keep this group together now. I’ve swapped combinations, swapped teams, but now I must see if by keeping this group together we can turn the results around, because we are not where we want to be.”

Ulster are third on the points table having won 10 of their 15 matches.

“They’re very good on their home ground. They beat the Stormers 35-5 … they’re balanced and settled, have a big pack of forwards … they’re a tough team to beat,” said White.