Jake White says the ‘Bomb Squad’ concept is growing on him as he again picked six forwards on the Bulls bench for Friday night’s United Rugby Championship clash against Edinburgh in Scotland. Kick-off is at 9.35pm, SA time.
But the key factor for the URC log leaders will be their powerful starting pack as White recalled Springboks such as Gerhard Steenekamp, Elrigh Louw and co-captains Marcell Coetzee and Ruan Nortjé, who will bolster the team that ground out a 18-12 victory over Cardiff last week.
It is clear that the Pretoria side want their heavy artillery to impose themselves on the home team at the DAM Health Stadium, with Edinburgh known for their running game, where powerful South African-born wing Duhan van der Merwe is one of their main catalysts.
The Bulls have scored some wonderful tries in their quest to play a high-tempo attacking game, but sometimes you have to play the situation in front of you that requires you to rein yourself in.
That is what White’s team are up against tonight, as Edinburgh are hard to beat at home. The Bulls have registered two wins out of their three tour matches, and if they are to return to Loftus Versfeld with another victory they will need to call once more on that gritty defence that got them over the line in Wales last week.
They certainly have the pack to do it, with hooker Johan Grobbelaar and No 4 lock Ruan Vermaak also back in the starting line-up.
“Any team that wants to win this competition in the third year needs to understand that coaches and players will soon work out what you want to and can do,” White said from Edinburgh yesterday.
“We’ve scored 158 points, and I think only Leinster are close to us with points scored. But that’s going to mean nothing, because last year we scored the most points and we never got to the semi-finals.
“The balance is that we want to be able to score points, be able to use our backs and attacking forwards. But there are going to be games and situations where we are going to have to grind out wins as well.
“That is something as a group that we’ve spoken about. Yes, we understand what Edinburgh want to do and that they have a certain style that they want to play, but when you want to win this competition, the Bulls are going to have to be good enough to control the things that we can control – and focus on the things we want to do.
“And one of those things is to have balance – to understand when and how you are prepared to use the arsenal you have.
“At this point in time, it’s worked well for us and we have (played) some attractive rugby. But there are going to be games where we have to roll up our sleeves and play a different style if we want to win as well.”
White is hopeful that the rain will stay away, but with Johan Goosen back at flyhalf, the Bulls will have the necessary big boot to play a territory game as well.
They also have a former Edinburgh player in utility back Jaco van der Walt on the bench, who has given the Bulls great insight into the opposition.
It is a pity that hooker Akker van der Merwe is not part of the match-day 23, which means he won’t have a chance to tackle younger brother Duhan.
But White mentioned that Akker has given the team some pointers about his brother, as it will be crucial for the Bulls backline to close down the space for the No 11 out wide.
Bulls Team
15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee, (co-captain), 5 Ruan Nortjé (co-captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 24 Cyle Brink.
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