Jake White has conceded the Bulls’ Champions Cup playoff prospects are “done” and that the objective this week is to build momentum for the URC with a strong performance against Stade Francais in Pretoria on Saturday.
White has turned his attention to securing a strong finish to the campaign and rebuilding confidence, following a 49-10 defeat to Castres in France this past weekend.
The Bulls return home to face Stade Francais at Loftus Versfeld, where they will need a significant bonus-point win to qualify for the Challenge Cup playoffs after three losses in the pool stages of the EPCR.
“I think it is done because we’ve got no points and every other team has points,” said White, acknowledging that the Bulls are now out of the running for the Champions Cup playoffs.
“It is only Stade Francais that is an option. We can’t catch Castres even if we beat them. So I think the Champions Cup is over for us.”
The Bulls, who led 7-0 early on Saturday after Jan-Hendrik Wessels’ try, held their own for much of the first half, trailing by just three points at the break. However, Castres capitalised on their experience and depth in the final quarter to run away with the game.
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Reflecting on the defeat, White explained that the campaign was always going to be challenging given the difficulty of European competition and the inexperience of some of the players.
“It just highlights how difficult it is to advance in this competition. Stade Francais beat Northampton, and they are second last in the Top 14. It shows how tough it is,” he said.
White, though, did highlight the bigger picture: “We’re trying to build depth, and you can’t do that in training. We have excellent young players, but you can’t wrap them in cotton wool.
“They need to get exposure. There’s no way you can really replicate that kind of pressure in the same atmosphere on the training pitch.”
Despite the disappointment, White praised his team’s effort in the first hour of the match. “I was happy with how we played the first 30, 40, 50 minutes, but I don’t think we had the explosiveness to beat them,” he added.
“In the second half, Castres showed they had the necessary firepower everywhere on the field. The moment they started going forward, it was hard to stop them.
“What we are going to do now is worry about our performance in the next week and make sure we get momentum going into the URC.”
Photo: Tyler Miller/Gallo Images