Has Bulls boss Jake White made the right call to leave his World Cup-winning Springboks at home for Saturday’s massive Champions Cup clash against the Bristol Bears?
The Bulls left Pretoria on Tuesday night without Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Marco van Staden for Saturday’s encounter at Ashton Gate in south-west England (5.15pm kick-off, SA time), and they will also sit out next weekend’s clash against Bordeaux at Loftus Versfeld.
White is in a difficult position. As he told the media in Pretoria this week, the World Cup Boks have to get five weeks off at some stage during the season.
“If I am going to do it, this is probably the best time post Christmas. There’s an extra week holiday in the Cape with their families. There is nothing untoward – no one is less important or one tournament is more important,” White said before the squad’s departure for England.
“Some coaches, and I have been reading between the lines, are doing it at different times. I could quite easily have kept Canan Moodie and, say, Kurt-Lee Arendse for these two games and then given them their time off.
“I’ve just decided, en masse, I would rather do it all together and bring them back. It doesn’t downplay one or the other.
“Some coaches, like the Sharks or the Stormers, would do it differently. They might do it for five weeks, but that five weeks might be in March, and that is up to them.”
But the tricky part is that the Bulls may need at least a losing bonus point against Bristol to stay alive in the race for the round of 16 play-offs.
They are currently third on the Pool 1 log with five points, behind Lyon on seven and leaders Bordeaux on 10.
But fourth-placed Saracens – who face Bordeaux away on Sunday – and fifth-placed Bristol are also on five points, and both those teams could move up to 10 and possibly end the Bulls’ knockout hopes, with the top four sides of the six in the group advancing.
Lyon could also secure a play-off spot by beating Connacht in France on Saturday.
“Winning one and losing one puts us in the middle of the pool. This will determine whether we go through or not,” White said.
“Yes, I know Bordeaux still has to come play us, but once this game is over, you will know where you will finish in the pool, and if you are in or out of the playoffs.”
The former Springbok coach, though, is confident that he has enough firepower to mount a serious challenge against Bristol.
He mentioned someone like Marcell Coetzee being an ideal replacement for Van Staden at openside flank, but the Bok back three of Le Roux, Arendse and Moodie will be missed.
It is a big call by White to rest his World Cup Boks as the Bulls’ Champions Cup season is on the line over the next two weekends, while they have also lost their last two games, to the Stormers and Lyon.
But he will hope that the depth that he has developed this season will carry the team over the line.
Devon Williams, Sebastian de Klerk and Sergeal Petersen did well as a unit earlier in the season, while the experienced former Edinburgh utility back Henry Immelman is also an option out wide.
But Bristol will be tough competitors on their home ground in freezing weather.
White will call on the rest of the seniors to set the tone up front especially, where Elrigh Louw, Wilco Louw and Akker van der Merwe have been excellent this season.
IOL Sport