It’s about more than desperation

Director of rugby Jake White says the Vodacom Bulls must find that “little bit extra” when everything is on the line to finally achieve URC title glory in Dublin on Saturday, reports DEVIN HERMANUS.

Saturday’s showdown at Croke Park represents the Pretoria outfit’s third URC decider in four seasons, and facing a Leinster side desperate to claim their maiden URC crown on home soil.

South Africa’s most decorated rugby franchise, with three Super Rugby titles and 25 Currie Cups, the Bulls aim to end a sequence of two URC final defeats and convert a 4-2 head-to-head record against the Irish giants into silverware.

Addressing the media on Thursday, White and skipper Ruan Nortje responded to recent comments from Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan claiming the home side are hungrier for their first URC title.

“I think it’s one of those where you get to a final, everyone’s desperate to win, let’s be fair,” White told reporters. “Anyone whoever sits in a final and says, ‘we’re not desperate,’ or ‘we’re not as desperate as the other team,’ would be naive.

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“I can only worry about what we want to do. And obviously, we’ve had two chances [in a URC final]. Now this is our third chance, and we will be desperate. Whether it’s as desperate or more desperate I think it goes deeper than that.

“It’s not just about the rugby and desperation. I think it’s about a little bit extra,” he added. “That’s the challenge, or that’s the test we’re all going to have: which one is going to be really desperate when everything is on the line.”

White made one enforced change to the Bulls starting XV following last week’s win over the Sharks at Loftus. Marco van Staden steps into the back row for the injured Cameron Hanekom alongside Nortje, with Marcell Coetzee moving to No 8. Nizaam Carr joins the bench as the only alteration to the match 23.

The reshuffle forces tactical adjustments, with Van Staden’s traditional fetching skills contrasting Hanekom’s triple threat across attack, defence and breakdown work.

“It just means that I’ve spent more time on my knees this week praying for rain,” White quipped about the loss of Hanekom. “The balance is obviously a bit different with Marco. He brings different attributes.

“He’s a World Cup winner and he’s playing against Josh van der Vlier. They’ve obviously played Test match rugby against each other.”

White’s selection philosophy for knockout rugby was evident in his team announcement: “Every team aspires to getting the best possible 23 available for the last three weekends of the tournament.

“That’s all you want, because you want to give yourself a fair crack at it when you get to the back end of the comp having all the best players available. And at this point in time, these are the best players we have available for the final.”

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The former Springbok boss acknowledged the challenge facing the Herd against Leinster’s international-laden squad, but despite the disparity in Test caps, White expressed confidence in his squad’s development.

“They’ve got 23 internationals and that’s only because they are only allowed to play 23. So they’ve got many more internationals than we’ve got. They are the benchmark of where every club team wants to get to,” he said.

“We’ve got better and our team is growing and we are much better than we were four years ago when this group started.”

Nortje, meanwhile, downplayed the Bulls’ impressive recent record against Leinster, including back-to-back victories at Loftus and a strong away campaign in 2024-25 (six wins from nine overseas fixtures in all competitions).

“Every Saturday is a new game, and every year it’s a new final, so we can’t read too much into what’s happened in previous years,” he said. “We can just go on with what we’ve been doing well this year.

“We’ve been really good away from home this season for some or other reason, and the group has been getting on quite well on tour. That camaraderie just gets better, and we’ll definitely go out this weekend to give it everything that we’ve got, that’s all we can do.”

Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images