“Against a team like this, you need to fight for 80 minutes, because they are a quality team.”
Bulls director of rugby, Jake White, has bravely declared they will “have a go” at Leinster when they meet for their highly anticipated United Rugby Championship semi-finals at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday (kick-off 4pm).
The mood that’s been coming out of the Bulls camp this week is one of quiet confidence and on Friday during his pre-match press conference White, with a firm tone in his voice, declared war with Leinster, saying his team would not go down without a big fight against their well-resourced opponents.
“We are going to have a go. We are not going to die wondering; we want to win. We don’t really have much to lose; we are playing against a quality team,” said White, whose side lost the inaugural final against the Stormers two seasons ago.
“Against a team like this, you need to fight for 80 minutes, because they are a quality team, because they took Toulouse (in the Champions Cup final) into injury time before they lost the game.
“It’s going to take a team effort, even the bench, I have to use my bench because if they play for 80 minutes, then I’m going to expect the bench to be part of that fixture as well,” he said.
“This is going to be a test”
The Bulls have defeated Leinster in a URC semi-final in the past, defeating them in the inaugural season in Dublin. In that win, they put in a solid performance, executing their plan to perfection.
If they are to record another historic win in Pretoria, against a team which includes in its coaching ranks, former Bok boss Jacques Nienaber, they will have to summon the spirit of 2022 and add an extra dose to their work rate, passion and decision-making.
“Those three things are a given,” White said.
“I don’t think you’re going to get through this game without those three things. There’s also the accuracy and the understanding of what’s coming and mentally understanding that this is going to be a test,” he said.
The last time these two sides played each other in the URC regular season, Leinster won 47-14 in Ireland. The defeat rocked the Bulls as it highlighted just how behind they are to rugby’s premier club team.
Getting the basics right
Knowing what they will be up against on Saturday, White said his players must get the basics right.
“The technical stuff is just doing the basics as well as you can. You need your set piece, you need your defence, you need your goal kicker to kick well.
“We have to be as good as we can on the things we do, do the basics and don’t try to do things that you don’t need to do,” said the Bulls mentor.