Jake: Rotation key to Bulls’ success

Coach Jake White says rotating his players this season has put the Vodacom Bulls in a strong position heading into the Vodacom URC playoffs.

White used his halfbacks as an example following the Bulls’ 45-21 win against Cardiff at Loftus on Saturday that moved them up to second on the URC log above Glasgow, who later lost 33-7 to Benetton in Treviso.

“For Zak [Burger] to play 80 minutes at 9 today [in the absence of Ebrose Papier] didn’t worry me because he’s had enough game time [this season]. For Keagan [Johannes] to come on at 10 [in the 12th minute for the injured Johan Goosen] didn’t worry me because he’s played 10 in big games this season.”

Goosen appeared to suffer yet another serious knee injury before leaving the field on a golf cart. When asked about it, a visibly emotional White just said, “I feel for the guy.”

RECAP: Bulls trample Cardiff at Loftus

The Bulls led 31-0 at half time and 45-7 after 53 minutes before two late Cardiff tries added some respectability to the scoreboard.

“It was one of those games that we wanted to go through Cardiff because they are a very difficult side to get around,” said White. “And we picked a team that could do that.

“Our pack weighs 940kg which allowed us to play that style against Cardiff – short lines going through the middle. If you consider how many carries a guy like [lock] Cobus Wiese had in the first 50 minutes … there was obviously a design for him to hold on to the ball and carry it into those situations.”

ALSO: Lions out of URC playoffs

The Bulls have tended to perform better overseas than at home this season, so White was pleased to see them having fun at Loftus.

“One of my messages to the players was that they must enjoy it. We must enjoy the fact that we’ve done well enough to give ourselves the chance to get a home semi [by finishing second on the log] although we need to win a quarter-final first.”

The Bulls will conclude their league-stage campaign with a match against the Dragons at Loftus next Saturday, before hosting a quarter-final on 31 May.

Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

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