CAPE TOWN - After his first-choice players conquered South Africa last season, Bulls coach Jake White is confident his youngsters can continue to grow the team’s legacy of success in future years.
Following a few early defensive lapses by the Bulls, White was delighted with how his young team improved to see off the Pumas 48-31 at Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday.
It was the ultimate test for this group of players, after they were dispatched 44-14 by the Pumas at the same venue during the Currie Cup in January.
The home team began with the same vigour on Tuesday, knocking the Bulls back on attack and punching holes in their defence.
Despite a few early maul tries from the Pretoria outfit, the Pumas roared back and were trailing by just two points at 19-17 after 30 minutes.
But a Gerhard Steenekamp touchdown just before half-time, followed by a conversion and penalty from Chris Smith, gave the Bulls a 10-point lead at the break, which the Pumas were never able to haul in during the second half.
Being able to handle that kind of pressure against a more experienced Pumas side bodes well for White’s depth ahead for the Rainbow Cup and PRO16.
“What I’m chuffed about is that there is nice depth in our squad going forward – probably not for now, but in the next couple of years, we’re going to have a good team and need to keep them together,” the former Springbok coach said.
“Second half was always going to be tough, as I’m sure Jimmy (Stonehouse, Pumas coach) gave them a rev at half-time – always difficult for us after half-time.
“But saying that, we let them score 17 points in the first 21 minutes, and they didn’t score again until the 70th minute.
“So, even though it didn’t look like the second half was great, defensively, we were much stronger in the second half than we were in the first half.
“The most important thing, that I enjoyed the most, is that the average age of this group is about 22. A boy who matriculated at Affies last year played (lock Reinhardt Ludwig), and Jan-Hendrik (Wessels, prop) is still Under-20.”
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The Bulls’ captain on the night Nizaam Carr praised his young teammates for standing strong in the face of the Pumas onslaught.
“I thought it was an absolutely tough match for us. We had to dig deep, and full credit to the Pumas – they came at us. At times, they did put us under a lot of pressure, but we held close together,” Carr said during a post-match TV interview.
“I think towards the end, we had a number of younger boys – the average age was about 21, 22. It’s a good lesson for them to learn, to adapt and see how the system and the structures work.
“I’m really proud of the way we showed that.”
Next up for the Bulls are the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld next Friday, a game Carr said would hold “a lot of emotion” for him against his former team.
@AshfakMohamed
IOL Sport