Bulls coach Jake White has praised the resilience of his team, despite going down 27-22 to Munster in their United Rugby Championship clash over the weekend.
The Bulls, on their home ground Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, may have been expected to beat the powerful Munster side but when the hosts were reduced to 14-men it handed the advantage to the Irish side.
Bulls flyhalf Johan Goosen was red-carded for a dangerous challenge in the 54th minute, and though White’s men kept fighting - they were unable to deny Munster the win.
“As I said to the players now, we’re better than that,” White said.
Late drama
The side’s were locked at 22-22, before a Conor Murray try for Munster proved to be the match-winner six minutes from time.
“I thought that the first 18 minutes of the second half was the way we wanted to play, and then we got a red card, which obviously is difficult. I can still say that we were in the game until the last play with 14 men, which says a lot for the fighting spirit that they showed.
“Take nothing away – Munster won the competition last year, and beat the Stormers in Cape Town, which no one has got right. I still think if we play properly, we are good enough to beat them.
“We’ll regroup … and we are still alive in the comp, guys. It’s got to hurt, that we lose. And it’s got to be something we motivate ourselves for in the training sessions.”