Bulls director of rugby Jake White was chuffed with the balance his forwards and backs struck during their rout of Ulster this past weekend.
The Pretoria side ran in seven tries in the 47-21 victory thanks to their dominant scrum, which forced an Ulster yellow card at one stage, and their backs that didn’t hesitate to attack the space they created via the pack. It was a second successive win for White’s charges as they head for a crucial first tour in the URC’s new season.
“When you get your balance right between your forwards and backs, you can score a lot of points, that's something we've been working on.”
“When you get your balance right between your forwards and backs, you can score a lot of points, that’s something we’ve been working on,” White said after the victory.
“I am very happy with the way that game played out. You’ll never be completely happy if a team scores three tries against you, but it’s only the second game. Things look promising for us and we can only build on that weekly.”
The Bulls’ first challenge overseas starts in Wales against the Ospreys and White plans on selecting his strongest side on tour to keep the momentum of the last couple of weeks. All his Springboks are available for duty and he feels there will be enough time later in the season to give them a rest according to the resting protocols.
Almost all 13 Boks who did duty on Saturday played a vital role in getting the team over the line, with the front row of Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw stamping their authority in the scrums. Lock Ruan Nortje bossed the lineouts, while the loose trio of Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden and Cameron Hanekom ruled the breakdown, putting Ulster under massive pressure.
“The nice balance is, that the forwards score tries too, they are not just big guys stopping mauls, they get around the field.”
“The forward pack is getting better and better. It’s not just the scrumming performance, we kept them out with their rolling maul many times. It’s just the balance of being able to front up physically not just on our ball but defensively too.
“The nice balance is, that the forwards score tries too, they are not just big guys stopping mauls, they get around the field. It balances the squad in the way we want to play. We are trying to find our identity without moving away from what the Bulls do well, and slowly every year teams are seeing the Bulls have a DNA and certain style we love to play.”
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White also praised the influence of veteran fullback Willie le Roux who he described as a player-coach on the field that assists guys in the backline like flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain, who had another brilliant performance, with information and direction in real-time.
Thanks to the scrum dominance, the Bulls’ attackers dominated their opponents and could have scored even more tries.
Now, the target is to get four wins on tour starting against the Ospreys on Saturday. If they can continue on this winning trajectory, they will lay a strong platform for the rest of the season’s URC matches and those coming in the Champions Cup later this year.