Jake White: Bulls’ previous loss to Edinburgh was a ‘blessing’

Bulls director of rugby Jake White said he was thankful his team lost their last match against Edinburgh – the Challenge Cup quarter-final played in Scotland last month.

The lessons from that 34–28 defeat at Hive Stadium provide more insight than a victory would have, as the Bulls prepare to face Edinburgh again in their United Rugby Championship quarter-final at Loftus this Saturday (kick-off 1.30pm).

The teams clash for the third time this season after the Bulls emerged victorious at Loftus in September (final score 22–16). Head-to-head, Edinburgh have won three of the five games between the sides, though both teams have won every match played at home.

Bulls might have been overconfident

“I think what is a blessing for us is we lost to them a couple of weeks ago. I think had we had beaten them there and maybe won easily then maybe there would be a feeling of ‘gee, we whacked them or we beat them away’,” White said.

Had the Bulls done, so they would have made history as the first South African team to beat Edinburgh in Scotland. As it happened, the Sharks took that honour with an 18–17 win thanks to a last-minute try in the URC the next weekend.

“The blessing for us is that we lost to them [Edinburgh], and we gave them a good start. They were 24–7 up at half-time [and then 31–7 after 42 minutes]. So those lessons surely must be as clear as day. We cannot give them a 24–7 start and we can’t just believe that we will beat them because they beat us the last time that we played.”

When it comes to fast starts, however, the Bulls have led the way with 29 tries in the first 20 minutes this competition. But when asked about it, White said there is no magic formula and largely out of his hands.

Edinburgh have top internationals who ‘don’t go away’

White said Edinburgh were perhaps not a side that drew attention from world media but they probably have mroe international players than the Bulls do.

“I don’t ever want you to ever underestimate the value an international cap does for a player. You look at how our players have grown. When you look at a guy like Ruan Nortje, when he got here compared to now.

“When you’ve played the All Blacks twice and beaten the All Blacks as a Springbok you must become a better provincial rugby player. It just happens like that.”

White made mention of the extensive budget Edinburgh possess, making it one of the wealthiest clubs in the world.

“They have lots of British & Irish Lions players in that squad as well. There is no doubt that a person who plays for the British & Irish Lions or Scottish rugby… must be a better player than you sometimes give them credit for.”

“The most important thing that they can do is they just don’t go away. It’s not just against us, it’s any games that they have played – they stay in the fight.

This is a ‘very different’ play-off for Jake White

White also drew attention to the growth of his players since their first URC campaign in 2021/22. They reached the final of that tournament, losing to the Stormers in Cape Town. They followed that up with a quarter-final exit in 2023 before reaching the final again last year, and losing to Glasgow at Loftus.

“I’ve done this many times, and I’m not saying this in an arrogant way, I’ve been lucky enough to experience these feelings of playing knockout games in different competitions.

“It’s very different, this one. Because this group of players has exceeded expectations early on.” He said they played in their first final when the average age was about 23.

“I get the feeling we are maturing as a group.” He said while Willie le Roux joined the side to add experience, players such as Johan Grobbelaar, Ruan Nortje and Simphiwe Matanzima had clearly matured and developed their games.

“I feel the vibe is different. I feel the lessons they learnt are a lot more meaningful now because they’ve played together a lot more.”