URC quarterfinal: Bulls chasing 80-minute performance against Edinburgh

The Bulls will be chasing a full 80-minute performance when they take on Edinburgh in their United Rugby Championship (URC) quarterfinal at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon.

They will also be looking to get a bit of revenge, after Edinburgh edged the Bulls 34-28 in their EPCR Challenge Cup quarterfinal clash in Scotland last month, and there will once again be plenty on the line.

In that game the Bulls were punished for a slow start that saw them trailing 31-7 after 42 minutes, before they came storming back, but fell just short of a famous comeback win.

The Pretoria side have, however, enjoyed a number of good starts in the URC this season, and Director of Rugby Jake White said that they have learnt that it is not only a good start that they need to win big games.

“We have always had good starts, we start the best out of any team in the competition and it’s got nothing to do about whether we are home or away,” said White during a field session on Tuesday morning.

“We know that we need to start well in these knockout games, but we also know that we lost to Glasgow in a final because we allowed them to score on halftime with a penalty that we gave away and we didn’t score in the last minute of the game with a driving lineout.

“There are a lot of other lessons we have learnt. We started so well, we were 13-0 up in the final and we lost it. So for me it is about 80 minutes, and getting all those little things right … starts, finishing, benches, rotation, game time. All of those things are what we have to look at and get right.”

Level record

The Bulls have a one-one record against Edinburgh this season, edging their first game of the URC campaign 22-16 at Loftus, before going down last month (in the Challenge Cup), and White believes there is plenty they can take out of their most recent defeat.

“We can take a lot out of that game. We finished well against them and that gives me hope. Like I said after that game had it gone on for another five minutes, I have no doubt that we would have won it, and that says a lot,” said White.

“I know there are a lot of things that we, and I, could have changed in the build up to that game. Selection wise, rotation wise, using the bench better.

“There are a lot of things that I look at in that game and know that if I was a little bit more streetwise and aware of what happened last time, it will help us this time round.”

The Bulls are also looking strong on the injury front, with just their three long term injuries unavailable for this weekend.

“We are not in a bad place. Guys like Elrigh (Louw), Gerhard Steenekamp and Johan Goosen are not available this week. But other than that, we are really in a good place. For this time of the year and the amount of rugby we have played we are not badly off,” added White.