Cape Town - The fringe Bulls players who starred in Saturday night’s incredible Champions Cup win over Lyon may be “chomping at the bit” to knock over Exeter Chiefs this weekend, but coach Jake White says he will stick to his plan of fielding two competitive teams this season.
It looked like a B team that was picked on Friday, but they played like an A team against Lyon in charging to a 28-0 lead in 25 minutes with four tries and a bonus point sewn up.
White felt the fact that it proved to be so easy to breach the defence actually counted against his team in the second half as they pushed the envelope too often on attack, which allowed Lyon to fight back and regain the momentum to make it 42-36 with five minutes to go.
But in an enthralling finish that stretched to the 85th minute as play continued from penalties kicked to touch, the Pretoria side somehow kept their nerve to deny the French visitors the victory.
“In the beginning, it came off and we looked like a well-oiled team. In the end, if we have to be really critical, we probably just got too loose. It started to become easy for us to play the ball and run from everywhere,” White said.
“It’s typical… It’s just inexperience, and it’s about understanding that because you are up 30 points, it doesn’t mean you’ve won the game. And I think they realise that now. When you play against good teams …
“They are fourth on the (French Top 14) log, they’ve got unbelievable backs there – those Fijian boys they’ve got playing for them are world-class. They can stand up and offload, they’re dangerous, loose forwards on the edge … ”
But that was just the start of what White called “two months of hell” for the Bulls, who now have to travel to England to face an Exeter side that knocked over Castres 27-12 in France on Saturday night, before returning to South Africa to take on the Stormers in the URC on December 23 at Cape Town Stadium and the Sharks in Durban on New Year’s Eve.
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Then it’s overseas again for the Dragons in Newport on January 6, Exeter at Loftus eight days later, Lyon in France on January 20 and the Scarlets in Llanelli on January 27.
“I’ve worked the plan out, and we are going to stick to it. I think these boys who have just beaten Lyon are obviously chomping at the bit to go on tour and play against Exeter next week,” White said.
“The plan is clear and the boys have bought into it – I gave them the plan after we came from the holidays, and at this point in time, barring injuries, I will try as much as I can to get two teams that are competitive and can obviously win.
“This is two months of hell for us! We’ve got seven games, of which two are at home. And we fly via Doha, and not direct to London or Cardiff. The travel and experimenting with different combinations is something coaches have to do.
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“Everyone of those guys are going to say ‘Coach, I want to play in as many games as I can now’. You look at a guy like Bernard van der Linde (who scored two tries against Lyon)… I don’t like to single guys out, but he was Man of the Match and hasn’t played rugby for ages – I can’t even remember when last he played.
“So, what a nice place to be when you’ve got players knocking the door down to play in the, I don’t want to say the A team, but the other team that’s been the most consistent in what we’ve picked.
“Exeter are an incredible team and were champions of this tournament two years ago, so it will be an interesting check for us to see whether we are good enough to play away from home against a good side.”
IOL Sport