The Vodacom Bulls led 12-3 inside the first 30 minutes at Loftus Versfeld yesterday, but were caught napping when Herschel Jantjies exploited space on the wing to find Marcel Theunissen with a skip pass that finished with a score in the corner.

Trailing the Stormers 13-12 at the start of the second half, the hosts went further behind after Stormers replacement Junior Pokomela crashed over and Manie Libbok added the extras to make it 20-12.

Fullback David Kriel then earned 10 minutes on the naughty chair for a deliberate knock-on, before a 73rd-minute drop goal from Libbok set up the visitors for a 23-19 win that snapped a run of 12 wins in a row at home for the Bulls.

“So I don’t think it was purposeful that they took their foot off the gas.”

Also read: Stormers edge Bulls in blockbuster derby

White, though, questioned the build up to Theunissen’s try, which was referred to the TMO, while also raising an eyebrow at referee Marius van der Westhuizen’s decision to punish Kriel.

“The forward pass [the TMO] was looking at was probably the wrong one, it probably should’ve been the one going inside not outside,” the Bulls director of rugby said.

“I also don’t think [Kriel] knocked it down, but that’s my view, it happens. Those are the margins. If he catches that, we score under [their] poles.

“It was almost as if he was guilty before he even caught the ball, but I’m not going to moan about the referee or give you guys a front headline news story tomorrow ‘Jake White says referees…’. It is what it is.

“Even with 14 men, even with a yellow card, even with maybe we should’ve scored there, we still had two chances in the last two minutes of the game to finish it off and we didn’t.”

Read more: Bosch leads Sharks to victory at Ellis Park

The Bulls botched a crucial lineout to set up a maul at the death, which further suggests that the pressure of being a lineout and team leader is starting to weigh on young captain Ruan Nortje.

But, White jumped to his skipper’s defence, saying: “My captain will get it right. He’s going through a tough time now with calls, and people double-guessing whether or not he’s making the right calls.

“I’ve been through this with [former Springbok captain] John Smit, I’ve been through this with young captains – he’ll learn, he’ll get better.

“He’s not happy and has probably dropped his head and is down on himself, but he knows how important his role is. But we’ll help him through this time.”

He added: “I’m not going to nail anybody because I’ve seen this movie before; we lost fair and square.

“We had a chance at the end and I think we should’ve adapted better, and we have to learn those things as we go deeper in this competition.”

The Bulls, now sixth on the overall URC standings, will next host the Lions in a Jukskei derby on March 4 when the competition resumes after a week’s hiatus.

🎙️Captain, Ruan Nortje reflects on the game🎧

💙🐃 #BULvSTO @Vodacom #URC #TrueToTheBlue #BullsHeard pic.twitter.com/K5lDEctTCW

— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) February 18, 2023