Cape Town — While he would’ve liked to see his team grab a bonus-point victory over the Lions, Bulls coach Jake White said he was “not going to get too hard on the guys” for not doing so in their 21-13 United Rugby Championship victory at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Bulls managed to score their third try — by fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse — in the 49th minute, and had more than enough time to produce a fourth touchdown.
But despite scoring 21 unanswered points after the Lions took an early 6-0 lead, the home side were unable to land the knockout blow, even though they camped inside the visitors’ half as they wasted several attacking opportunities.
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“I just said to the players now: I’m never going to get arrogant about (a victory). To get nine points against the Lions in two weeks — considering where we were — we would’ve taken it,” White said in the post-match press conference.
“Remember two weeks ago, we were coming into the change room here (after the loss to the Stormers) and we had to find a way to jump up the log.
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“I would obviously like a bonus point, but we mustn’t get ahead of ourselves. I think we had enough chances, and we didn’t score. We can’t now… Canan Moodie for instance, at the end there, kicks the ball out. I mean shame — it’s a 19-year-old guy, and when I asked him ‘Why did you kick it out?’, he said ‘I felt like I was isolated’!
“So, it’s the right answer! He’s on his own there and probably thinking (he could get turned over). It isn’t ideal, and I would’ve liked to have got a bonus point — not because it’s the Lions, but because we had set it up quite nicely to get a bonus point.
“But I’m not going to get too hard on the guys. Nine points in two weeks and jumped up the ladder, and now we’ve got a massive game against the Sharks, and then we go to Zebre. So, we’ve still got out destiny in our own hands as we go along.”
With a considerable amount of rain having fallen in Gauteng over the last 24 hours, which continued during the game, the field was heavy and slippery, which contributed to the Bulls’ error-strewn display.
Several knock-ons prevented them from gaining any real rhythm on attack in the first half, although they seemed to find their feet after Arendse’s try with a thrilling few minutes where the passes stuck and the right options were taken.
Captain Marcell Coetzee and hooker Johan Grobbelaar’s tries in the opening 40 minutes set the platform for a bonus point, but it was not to be.
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“The interesting thing is that if Kurt-Lee gets that pass away when he slips, there was an overlap. If Elrigh (Louw) doesn’t loose the ball in the tackle there and he makes the pass, there’s an overlap,” White said.
“So, if I go to them and say ‘Listen, please guys, be more direct’, then they’re never going to pass. I thought we played quite nicely in the beginning… we just didn’t finish. There were enough opportunities.
“What we actually did is that we thought with the complete change in their backline — and the personnel not understanding each other — if we could put them under pressure early… It’s no use getting conservative and letting them grow into the game.
“So, that was the thinking when we started the fixture. I can’t now say to you that we were wrong by pulling the trigger. I think the more we could put their outside backs under pressure, because they were all new as a combination for this week, the better it would be for us.”
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen was pleased with the improvement shown following last week’s 34-10 loss to the Bulls at Ellis Park, and felt that his team had the edge in the scrums.
“We felt we had scrum dominance, and to then not always feel like you’re getting the reward is a bit frustrating. Then the lineout… We don’t have five two-metre locks jumping up, so I think it’s small executions, small moments. Sticking to system, or just being two percent off system was the difference there,” Van Rooyen said.
“I just spoke to Jake downstairs, and he said in the first 20 minutes, they really felt the pressure. That speaks a lot about our group. We had a tough week, verbally and physically, and to get that kind of reaction in the first 20 minutes speaks a lot about where we are as a group, and growing and evolving, if I could say that.
“If we could’ve managed another two penalties, another six points, I think the pressure and the momentum in the last 15 minutes could’ve been a little different.
“We made two territorial errors that brought them back into the game, so well done to them for capitalising on that. Discipline in system is probably the biggest lesson we’ll take from today.”
Points-Scorers
Bulls 21 — Tries: Marcell Coetzee, Johan Grobbelaar, Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions: Morné Steyn (3).
Lions 13 — Try: Ruben Schoeman. Conversion: Tiaan Swanepoel (1). Penalties: Swanepoel (2).
IOL Sport