White rings changes in Bulls team, as he looks to grow depth in squad

Bulls director of rugby Jake White is committed to seeing through his resolution of creating depth and competition in his squad in the new season.

Before the start of the United Rugby Championship season (URC), White mentioned that he’ll be taking a leaf out of Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus’ book in terms of creating depth. This was an area White identified as his shortfall in the previous term.

For the Bulls’ third URC game against Zebre on Saturday in Parma, White is giving starts to six players including Simphiwe Matanzima, Akker van der Merwe, Janko Swanepoel, Zak Burger, Stedman Gans, and Sergeal Petersen, who is making his debut for the side.

Depth and competition

White said the changes made to the starting XV are not based on giving players a chance because they are playing the less fancied Zebre, but an attempt from his side to create depth and competition.

“I said at the beginning of the tournament that the one area that I was probably poor on last year was creating competition,” said White when speaking to the media on Friday.

“As it stands now, the guys who haven’t had some starts get to start and it’s got nothing to do with whether it’s Zebre or the third game. I think as we go along we will try to reshuffle the squad so that we get some depth in every position.

“There are a lot of reasons why we can mix and match a bit from a coaching point of view but we want to see whether or not we are creating competition in each position,” he said.

The Bulls mentor is excited about the addition of Petersen, who will form a back three with Sebastian de Klerk and Devon Williams.

“We rate him highly and that’s why we brought him (to Loftus). We know what he can offer the squad, he’s got more experience than some of our outside backs, he’s got pace and is quick,” said White.

Looking ahead to the game at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi (kick-off 3pm SA time), White is expecting Zebre to test their defence.

“They score lots of points; they lost 40-36 in the first game and 34-31 in the second game. They score lots of points; they score lots of tries so I’m expecting it to be a tough game. I’m expecting them to test our defence,” said the former Boks coach.

Bulls team: Devon Williams, Sebastian de Klerk, Stedman Gans, David Kriel, Sergeal Petersen, Johan Goosen, Zak Burger, Cameron Hanekom, Elrigh Louw, Marcell Coetzee (co-capt), Ruan Nortje (co-capt), Janko Swanepoel, Wilco Louw, Akker van der Merwe, Simphiwe Matanzima. Bench: Johan Grobbelaar, Dylan Smith, Mornay Smith, Reinhardt Ludwig, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Wandisile Simelane.