Jake White hails ‘Os’ Wessels: Now Bulls have URC destiny in own hands after Glasgow triumph

The Bulls have their fate in the United Rugby Championship (URC) in their own hands after an impressive victory over defending champions the Glasgow Warriors on Friday evening in Scotland.

An outstanding defensive display, coupled with two tries at a crucial juncture in the clash, paved the way for the 26-19 triumph.

While the Warriors scored two tries at the death, the Bulls’ handling of them throughout the clash made a massive statement.

Now, they have two round-robin matches at home – against the Dragons and Scarlets.

And if they can get a full 10 points from that and Glasgow stumble in one of their final encounters (against Zebre or Leinster), the Bulls will finish second on the URC log.

“Our destiny is in our hands again, which is fantastic,” White said in his post-match press conference.

“We know what we need to do (for them to finish second).

“After all the travel we’ve done this year, it would be a massive relief for the players not to play away again, unless we must travel to play the team that topped the log.

“To play Munster, who won the competition two seasons ago, and then Glasgow, who won last season, takes a massive effort, especially away from home.

“I’m just very happy that in a short week, we could replicate what we did last week, and that was to show a lot of heart – defensively, we were outstanding.

“It is a very good way to end the tour.”

Springbok utility front-rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels led the Bulls’ defensive efforts.

The loosehead prop made a brilliant cover tackle barely seven minutes into the game to stop a sure try, while another big hit stopped a potentially potent backline move by the home side.

Loose forward Jannes Kirsten, centre Harold Vorster and Canan Moodie joined in on the big hits at Scotstoun Stadium.

While he hailed his entire squad for their efforts over the last two weekends, White had high praise for Wessels after his Player-of-the-Match performance against the defending champions.

“He’s just been nicknamed Os du Randt! I don’t know the reason, but it reminds me of the days when I was fortunate enough to coach Os (former Bok loosehead and double World Cup winner),” the Bulls director of rugby smiled.

“Jan-Hendrik was a lock at school and then a prop at school, then he was a hooker and then he adapted to become a prop again.

“It just makes our squad so much stronger.

“He encapsulated our back-to-back efforts, because his back-to-back efforts were outstanding.”