Jake White says there’s a “different vibe” at the Vodacom Bulls going into Saturday’s URC quarter-final against Edinburgh at Loftus Versfeld.
The Pretoria-based franchise hopes to go all the way this season, having reached the final in the inaugural season of the competition, against the Stormers in Cape Town, and again last season, against Glasgow at Loftus.
The Bulls have only once failed to progress past the URC quarter-final stage, in the 2022-23 season when losing away to the Stormers.
“I’ve done this many times in different competitions and I’m not saying that in an arrogant way,” White said of his playoffs experience. “This one is very different. This group of players exceeded expectations early on. To play in the final in the first year [of the URC] when the average age of the team was 23 years old, to get to another final last year …
“It’s different because I get the feeling we’re maturing as a group. Yes, there have been additions to the squad, like the experienced Willie le Roux, but what’s happening is players like Grobbies [Johan Grobbelaar], Ruan Nortje and Simphiwe Matanzima have all grown up as a junior squad in those formative times. I feel the vibe’s different, the lessons they learned are a lot more meaningful now because they’ve played together a lot more.”
URC REWIND: Bulls vs Edinburgh
When asked if there was a danger of the Bulls thinking too far ahead, and going into Saturday’s quarter-final with complacency, White quickly shook his head.
“No, you’re always up for a quarter-final. Semi-finals are the hardest to win and finals take care of themselves because of the hype and buzz.
“A blessing for us is that we lost to Edinburgh [34-28 in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals last month]. I think had we beaten them easily …
“And we gave them a good start, they led 24-7 at half time. The lessons from that match must be as clear as day. We can’t give them that start and we can’t think we’re just going to beat them, because they beat us the last time we played.”
TEAM: Boks beef up Bulls to TKO Edinburgh
The other match between the teams this season was just as close, with the Bulls winning 22-16 at Loftus in round 2 of the URC.
“They are a team that just don’t go away,” said White. “And it’s not just against us; if you look at other matches they’ve played, they stay in the fight.”
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
