White lays down the law for Bulls players ahead of Lions clash

Bulls coach Jake White is looking forward to the unique United Rugby Championship double header between his side and the Lions starting with the match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Lions host the first game and then travel to Loftus a week later (next Saturday) where the Bulls will take over hosting duties, in a unique experience for South Africa teams where they play each other home and away on successive weekends.

“I’ve coached overseas and one of the things I learnt there is in the Heineken Cup and Challenge Cup you have got to play the same opposition home and away on two consecutive weekends, so this is a very interesting experience for these players,” explained White.

“Whatever you try this week you have to try and change a couple of things for next week because you play exactly the same team and that’s unique for us as a group and I am sure it’s unique for South Africa.”

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The Bulls have struggled in the URC so far, picking up just one win in six games and will be desperate for a boost and will be targeting a double win over their closest local rivals in the double cross-Jukskei derby.

They will be aiming to be a lot more composed after they threw away an eight point lead in the closing moments of their previous match against the Stormers last weekend.

“For us it is important to show composure. Last week we found a way to lose and we generally haven’t put ourselves in those positions. When we are 26-18 ahead most games we have gone out and won because we have shown a bit of composure and a bit of experience,” said White.

“So I would say that this week we need to show composure, bounce back from the situations we created last week and make sure we get ourselves into that winning position.”

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen is also desperate for his side to pick up a win after they were downed by the Sharks at home last weekend.

“It’s a massive game. We were ok against the Sharks, not nearly consistently good enough for 80 minutes, so it is really important for us to bounce back this week at home, especially playing the Bulls again at Loftus next week,” said Van Rooyen.

Lions captain Burger Odendaal is set to play against his former team, where he spent seven years of his senior career and knows just how big the occasion is for the two unions and what his side needs to do to get the win.

“Playing against the Bulls is always a big thing. At the moment I think we just have to stick to our structures,” said Odendaal.

“So for us as a team it’s just about sticking to the process and not over thinking the game. Just doing what we have to do and stick to the system.”