When you win a game that you were losing right up until the 79th minute, victory will taste even sweeter.
For the Bulls, though, the 17-15 triumph over Benetton in Treviso on Friday night may just be the significant moment that propels them to the elusive United Rugby Championship (URC) title. A ruck infringement from Benetton just inside their own half provided the opportunity for the Bulls to launch one last attack, and inside centre David Kriel found touch about six metres out from the tryline.
Akker van der Merwe picked out Ruan Vermaak in the line-out, and the Bulls hooker did his trademark party trick to control the ball at the back of the maul and dive over to level matters at 15-15. Then it was up to Kriel to land the conversion from about 6m from the right-hand touchline, and the 25-year-old did just that.
The @Vodacom @BlueBullsRugby steal the win at the death 😳
David Kriel converts 🎯#BENvBUL | @Vodacom #URC | #VodacomTurns30 pic.twitter.com/HsrOg7vlEf
David Kriel comes in clutch for the Vodacom Bulls in the closing moments of the game 👇
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 25, 2024
📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/L6UzclY01l
“We like to play on hard fields – we’ve got people that can run from everywhere. We’ve scored the most points in the competition for three years in a row,” White said.
“(Friday), we found another way of winning a game. And don’t underestimate the fact that we scored two tries, with one disallowed – and they didn’t score a try.
“So, there are a lot more positives as well that we can take out – defensively, how strong we were; attacking-wise, how many opportunities we created with a different style of game we had to play... Especially without a quarterback (flyhalf, where Keagan Johannes stepped in for an ill Boeta Chamberlain) who’s not seasoned in that role.
“And that’ll just make stronger, stronger and stronger because it just means that... One of the things I said when I joined the Bulls is that we know what our DNA is, we know what our supporters want, we know what people expect from the Bulls – and that’s never going to change.
“But we’ve got to find different ways to play the game, and tonight, we found another way to play the game.
“That means the players will take a lot of confidence (out of the result) because they themselves will know that we can’t always rely on our running game. We are probably going to have to find another way to roll up our sleeves.”
White mentioned before the game that he faces a “difficult juggling act” to manage the 10 Bulls players who will go on the Springbok tour – with star No 8 Cameron Hanekom added yesterday following the withdrawal of the injured Damian Willemse – once they return to their franchise.
They will play two away games after the Bok Tests against Scotland, England and Wales as they have to travel to Galway to face Connacht on November 30, before taking on Saracens in the Champions Cup a week later in London.
At the top of the leaderboard, it’s Leinster - the only unbeaten team!🔥
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 27, 2024
Which game caught you by surprise?#BKTURC #URC pic.twitter.com/v0dcCxvvA5
“The most important thing is that with a minute left, if you really believe that you can win, then you will win,” White said.
“If I had a couple of players on the field that started doubting that we would win that game, we probably would’ve lost it. So, I praised them for the sheer ability of everyone saying that we were going to win this game.
“We lost last week (23-22 to the Scarlets), and at 15-10, we could quite easily have chucked in the towel and say, ‘Here we go again. We are going to go home tomorrow and we’ve lost two on tour’.
“So, I just praised them about the fact that if there is a belief – and you genuinely believe as a group that you can win a game, even if there’s a minute left, you will find a way.”