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Duane Vermeulen (C) of the Vodacom Bulls is unhappy about something during the Super Rugby Unlocked match between Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls at Emirates Airline Park on November 7, 2020 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Gordon Arons / Gallo Images)
- While the Bulls once again put in a poignant performance in the second half to claim victory against the Lions, coach Jake White says his troops cannot continue to rely on it.
- However, he was very pleased with the way his bench was maintained after they had to deal with major interruptions before and during the game.
- Lions captain Elton Jantjies lamented the “soft moments” from him and his teammates, but also noted that they are improving all the way.
The exciting halftime talks are seemingly becoming a hallmark in the Bulls’ Super Rugby Unlocked campaign as they continued their habit of dominating the second halves.
After, rather unexpectedly, falling behind 10-15 after the first 40 minutes against the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday night, Jake White’s troops refocused to claim a 30-25 victory.
But he admits that it is also a habit that could cause problems for them in the future.
“We were a completely different team after halftime,” White said.
“Obviously what I said in the locker room is not something that can be repeated in a public forum, but they definitely got the message. I got the desired response.
“But we can’t have harsh words every time we’re depressed. We’ll need to find some momentum from within as well at some point.”
Not that the former Springbok coach should be overly concerned about it, as comebacks against Griquas and the Cheetahs have been interspersed with excellent 24-hour efforts against the Sharks and Stormers.
“We’ve won every second half pretty convincingly, which is pretty good conditioning-wise. As a staff, that suggests an upward curve and that’s great for us,” White said.
Another major positive was that this uneven performance was illuminated by the Bulls’ potential strength in depth, with Nizaam Carr’s class in particular shining after appearing as an 11th minute replacement for Elrigh Louw.
The astute 29-year-old completed 11 tackles and played a pivotal role in Kurt-Lee Arendse’s closing attempt.
“It’s not an excuse, but we had a lot of problems. We lost our prostitute (Johan Grobbelaar) on Thursday, then we lost Elrigh early, as well as our two mainstays (Jacques van Rooyen and Trevor Nyakane),” White said.
“So a lot was asked of the bench, the guys that came in. They all know that we are still a relatively young group in terms of time together as a team. For them to play 40 minutes of rugby as we did in the second half without playing as much as a unit, it is very welcome.
“It was a difficult game and a good victory. Sometimes you have to win ugly.”
The result was harsh for the hosts, who delivered a performance that, during its best moments, combined some real grunting and fire with ingenious attacking play.
Unfortunately, Ivan van Rooyen’s burgeoning Lions group was hampered by “soft moments” at vital stages of the match.
“It was difficult to lose like this, it was a very tight result. But there were also many positives,” he said.
Captain Elton Jantjies agreed.
“We’re busy with a process. We can improve our little moments. That’s what it’s costing us, but we were up there for the whole game. Maybe there are some mental things we can work on as well, but we’re getting better.”
