Cape Town - The Bulls have had an extra week to ponder on how they can improve their finishing, but coach Jake White feels that nothing much needs to change for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash against the Lions.
The Pretoria side had several opportunities to dispatch the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld a few weeks ago, but wasted several chances in the Cape side’s 22, which saw them go down 23-19.
They return to Loftus on Saturday afternoon (4.45pm kickoff) to take on a Lions side high on confidence following their 35-24 victory over Glasgow at Ellis Park last week.
White stated yesterday – after selecting a new-look backline that sees veteran Morné Steyn at flyhalf – that the Bulls are “desperate” to turn things around after losing six out of their last eight matches.
They have been building their team structure steadily despite a hectic travel schedule during December and January, and it seemed like they had everything in place against the Stormers – except for the finishing.
“If I look back to the Stormers game, David Kriel was running down that touchline and (Sbu) Nkosi broke inside. Had he stayed on the outside, things would have been different,” White said.
“Cornal (Hendricks) made a line-break and backed himself back inside instead of going on the outside. Cornal caught the ball out of the air and got caught from behind, running into the 22…
“The point I’m trying to make is that I don’t think there is anything significant that we have to change – we just need to use those chances. And it’s got nothing to do with whether they are good enough or not good enough.
“Those margins are so small, and tomorrow is one of those days. We are going to get a chance, and if we take the chance, you win the game. If you don’t take the chance, you put yourself under pressure.
“It’s not something where you go to training, and tomorrow you say all we are going to work on is finishing in the 22. It’s not as simple, as there are different scenarios that happen in the 22, or the halfway line.
“I can’t play the same guys over and over and not try different things when I’ve got players who have extended here for a long time. My work in progress is very simple: we need to win, get into the playoffs and play whoever we have to play, and then do the review at the end of the season of what worked and what didn’t work.”
The Lions, though, showed that they can be dangerous on their day as they ran in five tries against a highly-rated Glasgow outfit, and coach Ivan van Rooyen bolstered his team yesterday by bringing back veteran Willem Alberts at No 4 lock.
White mixed things up in the Bulls backline, with Steyn partnered by Embrose Papier at scrumhalf, while David Kriel and Cornal Hendricks will be the centre pair, with Wandisile Simelane at fullback and Sibongile Novuka at right wing.
But will it make a difference? White admitted that he doesn’t know if this is the best backline the Bulls can field at the moment, but that it was worth trying out different combinations, especially with Springbok stars Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie at a national camp right now.
“It’s a very, very important match for us. Our captain (Ruan Nortje) said this week that we put ourselves in this position, and we must win now. We are also desperate, and have a chance to make the playoffs if we can this and the other games,” the former Bok mentor said.
“So, we cannot afford to lose another game at home. There is no chance of us underestimating them. They played well last week, and got a lot of self-confidence out of the win over Glasgow.
“History will tell you that for us as a group, it has always been a difficult match against the Lions, here and away. We battled to find our rhythm, and it won’t any different this weekend.
“If you look at their pack, it is probably the heaviest pack that they could have chosen. So, it will be a difficult game.”
Teams For Loftus Versfeld
Bulls: 15 Wandisile Simelane 14 Sibongile Novuka 13 Cornal Hendricks 12 David Kriel 11 Sbu Nkosi 10 Morné Steyn 9 Embrose Papier 8 Elrigh Louw 7 WJ Steenkamp 6 Marco van Staden 5 Ruan Nortje (captain) 4 Jacques du Plessis 3 Mornay Smith 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Dylan Smith.
Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Francois Klopper 19 Ruan Vermaak 20 Cyle Brink 21 Bernard van der Linde 22 Chris Smith 23 Harold Vorster.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn 14 Rabz Maxwane 13 Manuel Rass 12 Marius Louw (captain) 11 Edwill van der Merwe 10 Gianni Lombard 9 Sanele Nohamba 8 Francke Horn 7 Ruan Venter 6 Emmanuel Tshituka 5 Ruben Schoeman 4 Willem Alberts 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye 2 PJ Botha 1 JP Smith.
Bench: 16 Morné Brandon 17 Rhynardt Rijnsburger 18 Ruan Smith 19 Ruan Delport 20 Jarod Cairns 21 Morné van den Berg 22 Rynhardt Jonker 23 Andries Coetzee.
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