White relieved after Bulls pull through
Bulls coach Jake White was mightily relieved his side held on for a 33-31 United Rugby Championship (URC) win over Edinburgh at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
A long-range Henry Immelman penalty attempt could have handed the visitors a lastgasp victory but it drifted wide to give the Bulls a second win from as many starts in this campaign.
“I’m just thankful we found a way to win,” White sighed afterwards.
“You have to work hard in these competitions. The margins are small.
“I told the players don’t underestimate how tough this competition is.
“Not many teams can leave a guy like Hamish Watson on their bench,” White said about the British & Irish Lions flanker.
The Bulls appeared to hit their stride early but the resourceful Edinburgh team kept finding ways to stay in the contest.
White intimated complacency had set in. The Bulls, however, nudged ahead decisively when Morne Steyn kicked a long-range penalty from close to touch.
“Morne has almost been born to kick those kicks.
“He seems to love those pressure situations.”
He lamented the fact that his players left themselves in such a vulnerable position.
“Every time we got a buffer we made some silly mistakes.
“When we got 15 up they scored easily. Maybe it is human thinking things will happen on their own.
“It is a lesson to learn and I suppose it is an easier lesson to learn when you have a win under the belt as opposed to a loss.”
The Bulls were also slipping off tackles, which is particularly perilous against a team like Edinburgh.
“That was an area we spoke about at halftime.
“We just let them get through the line.
“Once or twice in the second half we put them backwards and made it easier for ourselves.
“They are the type of team that if you miss one or two tackles they will punish you.
“They offload and keep the ball alive.”
Overall, though, White was satisfied with the performance of his young team, given how relatively inexperienced his team is.
“Their pack has more Test experience than we have URC experience.
“We have to be mindful of the fact they are not a team that you can beat convincingly.
“This is a young team. We mustn’t get ahead of ourselves.
“We are far from where we need to be experience-wise.
“To find a way to win is a massive confidence builder.
“To get a win when you haven’t played well will help speed up that process.
“We will get better,” White said.
In Saturday’s other URC clash the Stormers, the defending champions, got their campaign off to a solid start with a 38-15 bonus point win over Connacht.
Though the Stormers looked in control throughout, the red card Bundee Aki received in the second half doused all prospects of the hosts staging an upset.
The Stormers were buoyed by stellar performances from backrowers Evan Roos, Hacjivah Dayimani and Junior Pokomela.
They face Edinburgh this weekend.