White goes from ‘not great’ to ‘very proud’ after Bulls win

Coach Jake White got straight to the point during his half-time talk to the Bulls players at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday – he told them that they “had not been great” in the first half.

But then, with his bench coming on to great effect, he told them at the end of their impressive 43-9 hammering of the Sharks in their Rainbow Cup match at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend that he was “very proud” of them.

The Bulls only led 12-9 at halftime and were entrenched in an almighty arm-wrestle with the Sharks, but their slow poison bore fruit in the second half as they eventually overwhelmed their opponents, finishing with four tries and a bonus point.

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“Slowly, slowly, we were able to grind them down because the Sharks are a very good side,” said White.

“The altitude caught up with them in the second half, but we didn’t have a great first half. We allowed too many balls to bounce and I think the Sharks probably won every contestable kick. But I’m very proud of the way we finished. Our forwards were really good and the backs played well in the second half.”

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Veteran flyhalf Morne Steyn is apparently in the frame for the national squad and he gave a masterclass against the Sharks, winning the Man-of-the-Match award.

“His kicks through into the corner, turning the Sharks around, just showed his class. He slowly squeezed the Sharks until they capitulated,” said White.

“The bench coming on played a vital role as well and we were in the wonderful position to have two Springbok props on the bench. I wanted a full half from Lizo Gqoboka and Trevor Nyakane and it was great to be able to hold them back because I knew Thomas du Toit and Ox Nche would come hard at us.”

The coach also praised captain Duane Vermeulen and his three locks, Walt Steenkamp, Ruan Nortje and Janko Swanepoel for their stand-out performances.