Embrose Papier will be looking to bring the heat for the Bulls when they take on Munster. | BackpagePix
Image: BackpagePix
Bulls coach Jake White says his team’s match against Munster on Saturday at Thomond Park will be between two teams desperate to bounce back from the disappointment of being knocked out of the European cup competitions last week.
The Bulls lost to Edinburgh and Munster to Bordeaux, and White says that the focus for both teams has shifted to finishing as high as possible on the United Rugby Championship points table, with four rounds to go to the playoffs.
Munster are fifth on the log and victory over the third-placed Bulls will inch them closer to a Top Four finish and the reward of a home quarter-final.
It is tense times for the Bulls as they are away to fast-improving Munster and next week to champions Glasgow, before much easier fixtures in Pretoria against Cardiff and the Dragons.
Munster had a disastrous start to the season and sacked their coach, Graham Rountree. The 2023 URC champions have found form at the right time and recently had a great away victory over French Top 14 giants La Rochelle in the Champions Cup.
“We will have to play well to beat Munster,” White said after naming his strongest team of the year for the match.
“Tactically, we will need to be smart. You need to match them with the things they do well and find a way to be tactically aware of the things they don’t like, because if they get the things they like from the opposition, they are very good at cashing in.
“With both of us having lost in the quarter-finals of our European cup campaigns, both want a rebound performance. That’s something I’m looking to get from the group tomorrow – a rebound based on the fact that we didn’t play our best last week.”
The Bulls were poor in the first half but finished strongly. They had too much to do, though, and lost 34-28. Loosehead prop
White has swapped his halfbacks for the match, bringing in (scrumhalf) Embrose Papier and flyhalf Johan Goosen. Loosehead prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been rewarded with a start after some powerful cameos off the bench.
“It’s the best side we can put onto the field,” White admitted. “We’ve had to give players like Ruan Nortje, Embrose Papier and Johan Goosen game time (off the bench) to find their feet after their injuries, and they’re now ready to start.
"Ideally, we would have liked to have done that with (lock) Cobus Wiese too, but he’s coming straight in.”
White said that the finish line for the season is in sight and he is going to avoid rotation from now on.
“I’m hoping now that this is the beginning of a five-game stint. There are league games to go, and we have done enough to secure a quarter-final.
"Hopefully, there will also be a (URC) semi-final and final to add on, but for now, we are guaranteed five games.
“So we are starting to put the best combinations on the field,” White explained.
“I’m hoping we can keep the squad together and put the little pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together in terms of what we’ve been lacking, whether it’s finishing lineouts, finishing in the opposition 22, or defensively being sharper, and not conceding penalties at the breakdown.”
Bulls Team
15 Devon Williams 14 Sebastian de Klerk 13 David Kriel 12 Harold Vorster 11 Canan Moodie 10 Johan Goosen 9 Embrose Papier 8 Cameron Hanekom 7 Jannes Kirsten 6 Marcell Coetzee 5 Ruan Nortje (captain) 4 Cobus Wiese 3 Wilco Louw 2 Akker van der Merwe 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Bench
16 Johann Grobbelaar 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Mornay Smith 19 JF van Heerden 20 Nizaam Carr 21 Zak Burger 22 Keagan Johannes 23 Stravino Jacobs.
Related Topics: