'We are better than that' - Bulls to re-shuffle as ban incoming
The Bulls will ‘regroup’ this Monday as they start preparations for a United Rugby Championship crunch encounter with a high-flying Ospreys team at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Irish powerhouse Munster, the tournament’s defending champions, showed their class in 27-22 win over the Bulls in Pretoria this past weekend.
Having started the weekend in this place, with aspirations of a top-two finish, the Bulls dropped back into the chasing pack.
Seven points separate the Bulls (46 points) from the Lions in 11th (39) on a congested tabled.
Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White says he is expecting his players to arrive at work on Monday to ensure they play to their true potential and ‘keep their destiny in their own hands’.
To further complicate matters, the Pretoria team is set to be without the services of Springbok utility Johan Goosen – the Bulls’ first-choice flyhalf – after his red card for a head-on-head collision with an opponent.
Given the standards set this season, it is unlikely he will get anything less than the obligatory three weeks.
There’s likely to be the standard one-week discount for attending tackle school.
Having lost their proud home record – the first-ever defeat against a European team in the URC at home and a 21-match victory run in Pretoria – the Bulls must now look to put their campaign back on track against a high-flying Ospreys.
“We are better than that,” a bitterly disappointed White said. “That first 18 minutes in the second half is how we wanted to play,” he said of coming back from trailing 10-17 at half-time, before holding a 22-17 lead in an improved performance.
However, in the wake of the Johan Goosen red card in the 54th minute, they failed to score again and two tries – the match-winner coming from veteran Irish scrumhalf Conor Murray in the final 10 minutes – allowed Munster to secure a bonus-point win.
“We were in the game till the last play of the game,” the Bulls boss said, adding: “It says a lot for the fighting spirit they showed.
“Take nothing away from Munster. They are the defending champions and beat the Stormers in Cape Town last year.
“They are a good team. They have beaten the Stormers and Bulls. They have the recipe right for beating South African teams.”
The loss made White ‘rethink’ his selection approach.
He said it is the whole team’s performance, not just the celebrated loose trio of Elrigh Louw, Reinhardt Ludwig and Cameron Hanekom.
While hugely talented, pundits are not convinced they are the right fit for the Bulls.
“I don’t think it is only [those] three guys,” he said, adding: “I will have a look and see how we take the next step.
“At times I thought the loose forwards were good. At times I thought we missed [injured seasoned Springboks] Marcell [Coetzee] and Marco [van Staden] with the things they bring to our squad.
“We will regroup on Monday. We are still alive in the competition.
“It has to hurt when we lose, but it is also something we must use to motivate ourselves for Monday’s training session.”
He pointed out that they have won an away semifinal to Leinster before.
“The priority is to get to the back-end, into the play-offs,” White said.
He admitted that the likely Goosen ban would force his hands in terms of selection.
“We don’t have the luxury of being able to afford another loss. Last year Munster had to fight for their lives, got wins at the back-end of the competition and ended up winning the URC.
“We will need to select the team that will help us get results in the next few weeks.
“We still want to control our own destiny.”
Comments on RugbyPass
My heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
69 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
1 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
69 Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
5 Go to commentsOur very own monster teddy bear Ox😍💪
17 Go to commentsThis is might be the most generalised, entitled, patronising, out-of-pocket cultural indictment on a group of people you’ll ever see on what is supposedly a sports publication. I can only assume the author is weak like a woman or homosexual. I’m feeling an incredible range of emotions but I am not quite sure how to express them. I might go beat up a hockey player - assuming that’s okay with Duane and the boys? 🙂
9 Go to commentsBest thing the Welsh clubs could do is apply to join Gallagher prem surely be more exciting matches for there support than they have now.
2 Go to commentsRugbyPass writers are useless! you guys should get a real job because you all suck at writing about rugby!!!
9 Go to comments