CAPE TOWN - With the match all square at 13-13 at halftime, the Bulls players would’ve entered the change room fearing the worst at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Their coach Jake White has a bit of a reputation for dishing out some ‘hairdryer treatment’ if his team didn’t play according to instructions in the opening 40 minutes, and there had been an element of that against the Cheetahs.
There was a mitigating factor, though, and that probably spared Duane Vermeulen and his teammates somewhat. And the halftime message worked – the Bulls scored 27 unanswered points to clinch a 40-13 victory and gain revenge after losing 19-17 in Bloemfontein a few months ago.
Flyhalf Morné Steyn made a successful return to the team as well, landing six out of six goal-kicks for a 16-point haul, while tries from Embrose Papier, Chris Smith and a brace from Marco van Staden secured the bonus point too.
“I think they all expected me to give them a bollocking, give them the gears! But it was very simple. I just said we haven’t had the ball, and when we did, we created pressure and got three or four penalties in a row – advantage, advantage, advantage. It was the first time we really went hard at them in the 22,” White said afterwards.
“So, I just said go back to what we had practised, go back to the things we spoke about, and just believe at the same time that those things we had practised will work.
“Before the game, there was a scare that this thunderstorm would come through, and I said to them that we need to be in front at halftime in case the game gets called off. And once we were up 13-3, I think we started to defend and almost try to get to halftime by leading.
“So, it was a bit naïve from the group, but I must say, the second half was outstanding. Everything worked; everything we practised came into play. The combinations that we put back on to the field worked.”
There was certainly a change of attitude from the home side in the second half, but the turnaround had already started in the opening stanza when Trevor Nyakane replaced Marcel van der Merwe at tighthead prop and stabilised a Bulls scrum that was under pressure from the Cheetahs.
The 31-year-old Springbok slowly but surely put young Cheetahs upstart Boan Venter in his place, while he put in a busy shift around the field, pitching in on defence and with his ball-carries.
“I’m not for one minute saying that we are not lucky to have the type of players we have. Trevor is a World Cup winner, comes on and takes charge. All of a sudden, we get a scrum penalty, which changes the whole game,” White said.
“It’s a bit like last week, when we were under the pump against Province. The scrum is very important, and it’s nice to see the senior players – Duane played well and spoke well on the field, composure.
“Nizaam (Carr) came on and showed a massive amount of composure as well. We are very lucky to have such good players that have joined our squad.”
The Bulls (32) now have an eight-point lead over the Sharks, whom they face next up in Durban on Saturday (7pm kickoff), but for the Cheetahs, it’s a difficult road ahead.
They are fighting for the last semi-final spot, and are in fifth position with 17 points. So, their next game against the fourth-placed Golden Lions (20 points) in Bloemfontein on Saturday (4.30pm) could have a major bearing on their playoff chances.
“It will be difficult. We started off well, but we lost a lot of players and have a lot of injuries as well, so the team is a bit depleted. We will have to show character, work hard and get back on track as soon as possible,” Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie said.
“We have the Lions at home next week, but it will be a difficult game as well as they play at a high tempo. Halftime we were in it, but the Bulls dominated us in the second half.
“I felt at halftime, we were not really playing well. I said to the players at halftime that we need to improve as we were not playing well. I thought if we could lift our standards, we could perhaps outplay them in the second half, but it went the other way. It started with four penalties in the first 10 minutes, and Morné (Steyn) slotted all his kicks.
“So, within 15 minutes, we were 13 points down from halftime, and it was always difficult to come back from that.”
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