Another blow for EP after Bulls battering
EP were dealt another body blow after being battered 87-10 by the Bulls after it was revealed their captain Inny Radebe would miss the rest of the tournament because of a fractured hand.
Radebe, who kicked a penalty and a conversion for EP, left the field late in the game after playing on despite the injury in the Preparation Series clash at Loftus, in Pretoria.
“Inny broke his hand within the first three minutes.
“He was very brave because he played on,” EP coach Peter De Villiers said.
“His hand is fractured and Inny will not play again in this competition.
“So we will just have to make things work.”
After watching his side leak 12 tries against a rampant Bulls side, De Villiers bemoaned his team’s mistakes.
“I don’t think the pack was that bad,” he said.
“I thought we were actually good in the scrums.
“EP lost a few line-outs, but we made a hell of a lot of mistakes, gave away too many penalties, from which they scored three tries in the first half.
“And from there, it was just one-way traffic.
“If you look at the scoreboard, it’s not a good reflection of what you want.
“Loose forward CJ Velleman didn’t do too badly.
“Individually, there was good stuff, but also bad stuff.
“Making mistakes when you have the ball and you can’t build some phases, it will always punish you if you play a side like the Bulls.
“I was privileged to be in the Bulls changing-room and to see the trophies they have, they are the best team in SA.
“So for us to come here and make those little mistakes against them, you will always be punished.”
While De Villiers was left with much to ponder, his opposite number, Jake White, came away from the clash seeking improvement.
“I’d still like to see a couple of things better,” he said.
“In the beginning we gave too many penalties away.
“I sent a message on to the field, saying instead of going to ground, let’s keep the ball up and see whether we can get away with actually not creating breakdowns, because we were getting penalised — even though we were carrying the ball into the breakdown.
“It was quite simple — we were just going off our feet at the breakdown.
“It’s something we will work on in the next four weeks with this group of players, so we don’t make the same mistakes when we play next week.
“I must say, the way they adapted and the way they got that sort of game going ... Remember, it was a really young group of players who never played together as a group, so you’ve got to be positive.
“As a coach, you are always looking for a perfect game, but I was obviously very impressed with what I saw today.”
It was a steep learning curve for a young EP outfit who found the going tough against an experimental Bulls side missing many of their star players.
The Bulls put the game to bed by halftime by running up a commanding 38-3 lead.
There will not be much time for De Villiers and his charges to pick up the pieces because they are next in action against the Lions at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on March 10.