‘We lost fair and square,’ says White after Bulls’ fifth straight loss to Stormers

Bulls boss Jake White has accepted his team were not good enough to beat the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship match played in front of over 40,000 fans at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Bulls crashed to a fifth straight defeat to the Stormers, the defending URC champions, after going down 23-19.

White’s men dominated the early exchanges and deservedly led 12-3 at one stage, but they let the Stormers back into the game as the minutes ticked by and the home side were unable to make the most of the opportunities that came their way.

‘Can’t blame anyone’

“We had our chances, until the very end, but we didn’t finish them off,” lamented White.

“It was the same thing in our last URC game (against the Stormers in Cape Town in December). In the first 10 to 15 minutes after half-time we struggled to get out of our half. We put pressure on ourselves, and then we also got a yellow card (David Kriel).

“It’s tough to win with 14 men and being behind on the scoreboard.

“It is what it is, we had our chances, we can’t blame anyone, we lost fair and square.”

‘Players did nothing wrong’

White further stated he was confident things would come right at the Bulls.

“We’ll get it right, I’ve done this job for years, and there’s a long way to go (in the competition).

“It’s not nice (to lose) but we’ll get better, I have no doubt. There’s not one player who didn’t give his best and that’s all you want as a coach. The players didn’t do anything wrong.”

Asked why he thought the Stormers had the Bulls’ number, White said: “Momentum … when you’re on the crest of the wave, everything works in your favour and you need to enjoy it.

“The Stormers are a difficult team to break down defensively and it helps that John Dobson has come a long way with (assistant coaches) Norman Laker and Dawie Snyman.

Coach-players relationship

“I’ve always said it becomes easier when the players know how a coach thinks.

“Look at Kitch Christie and the Transvaal players he coached who were also part of the World Cup team (in 1995). I also coached many of the players from the 2007 (World Cup) team in junior rugby; I’d worked with many of them for six, seven years. We mustn’t underestimate that relationship.”