Jake: Bulls 'almost guaranteed' two semis
19/03/2024 13:17
Jake White believes the Vodacom Bulls are on the verge of securing a place in the semi-finals of the URC and Champions Cup ahead of a two-match tour that includes a clash with Leinster.
Having left off with a bonus-point victory over the DHL Stormers before the two-week break, the Bulls currently sit in second place on the URC log, four points behind eight-time champions Leinster.
The Bulls now face a crucial period in their campaign, as they embark on a tour-match tour to face Dragons in Wales and Leinster in Dublin, before returning to Pretoria for the Champions Cup playoff against Lyon at Loftus Versfeld.
"It's quite a nice place to be. I said to the players, in the next month we play our best rugby, say we play our best rugby, we beat Leinster away, Dragons away, Lyon here and then the quarterfinal away," White told reporters during a training session in Pretoria on Tuesday.
"You are almost guaranteed to make two semi-finals in two competitions. That's a hell of a nice place to be as a club. It's not a given, I'm not jumping the gun.
"We've got our destiny in our hands and I know we are good enough. I know if we play well enough and I know we can beat those teams because we've done it before.”
White said that, with so much on the line, he wants the Bulls to play without fear and with the attitude of champions.
"It's a nice exciting time and run of games. There is a lot to be playing for,” White said. "I would like us to play in the next month like a team that is happy to be in that situation.
"We went to Wales last year and we lost to the Scarlets there, and no one expected us to win as well.
"To be fair, look how close these games have been. Look at Benetton, how well they have done this year. At the beginning of the year, other teams would've thought that's probably one game they could target, and they've lost it.
"Look at the Stormers, they went on a four-game tour to Europe in the beginning and they lost all four games. Now that's a team that has played in two finals, won one and lost one narrowly.”
White is wary of a potential banana-peel fixture against Dragons, who have won just two of their 11 fixtures this season and are just one point above the last-placed Sharks.
“There is no game where you can generally think, listen we just arrive and win,’ he said.
"And they would've had a lot of time to prepare as well, don't kid yourself. They knew they've got us, they've had three weeks to prepare, and they know they don't have whatever players they don't have due to international duty.
"I have no doubt that they will be prepared, as well prepared as any team we play against."
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
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