Bulls need to turn frustration into a response in Treviso

With their unbeaten record lost in the rain in Llanelli, and another disciplinary hearing looming, the Vodacom Bulls now are focusing on a massive response when they take on a resurgent Benetton in their final Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Treviso on Friday night.

The Bulls watched as their 19-7 lead disappeared and a red card cost them in the second half as they slumped to a 23-22 loss to Scarlets in a highly controversial game, but know that crying over spilt milk won’t help them this weekend against the Italians, who smashed Dragons on Saturday.

There is also the alarming trend in both games in Wales that the Bulls started off strongly and then scored just three points in the second half in both games, allowing their opposition to come back at them.

And while the focus has been on the cards that were issued in the second half,

FRUSTRATION TO DRIVE TRAINING

White knows his side were good enough to win both games, and the frustration with a loss in Wales will be something that drives the training week.

“Now we're going to need to play well against Benetton,” White said of the week ahead before focusing on their dearth of points in the second half.

“Not that we didn't always want to, but I mean, now it's a question of being a little bit more desperate, a little bit more clinical, a little bit more understanding where we got it wrong. And it is, it's not a concern.

“That’s not the word I use. It's the way, it's a trend that we've got to try and change. And it's something that it's catching us because we start well, put teams under the pump.

“And then when we've got our hands on their throat, we just get them, we let them get up. But it's all about learning and it's all about growing. In the last four years, no team has been unbeaten in this competition. So it just shows you how tough it actually is to win week in and week out.”

GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN IN LLANELLI

White said while the red had frustrated him, he knew that his side was good enough to win the game and should have been more clinical in the second half.

“It doesn't matter what I think, the bottom line is we were good enough to win that game, should never have got down to that situation in the first place and turned the ball over a couple of times in their 22,” White said.

“We lost a couple of lineouts, turned the ball over at lineout time, lost it in the maul, and then when they got into our 22, they finished. So it is, I mean, it's tough to win away from home. It's tough to win on the road.

“That's why they call in bonus points. That's why you've got to work so hard. And as I said before the game, they're not as poor as what everyone makes them out to be.

“They might have struggled last year with lots of injuries. They've signed some props, got some big back rowers now, and they've always had good backs. So it was always going to be a tough game.

“At certain points in the game, I think we should have finished them off and we didn't. They played well. Played well this whole season, played well against Benetton, played well against Cardiff twice.”

DRIVING ON A DIRT ROAD

White did admit that watching his team lose a big lead like that was irritating and that it “aged” coaches.

“Well, it ages coaches. That's what it does. When you start coaching, you have hair and you're young. And when you leave, you look like you've been driving on a dirt road.

But that is, I mean, there's no use. You guys have been in this game for a long time. You know, I'm not going to take the bait and say we weren’t good enough. We should have won. We could have won. We had all the opportunities.

“And, you know, we played against a team like the Scarlets that never went away. That's right. They stayed in the fight. And they're not going to be an easy team to beat. I mean, you know, I've got no doubt in my mind, the recruiting they've done, the balance of their squad, they're not going to be a team that you can just arrive here and get a win. And now, obviously, the rain played a role in the guys going a bit tight in the second half.

“We were actually too, we played too much. And we probably didn't adapt to those conditions for that block of time. We started well when it was nice and dry and no wind. And as the weather sort of changed, we probably kept thinking that we were probably seduced by the fact that we played so well with the ball in our hand that we probably at times played too much.”

White did praise his new recruit Cobus Wiese, who had an outstanding game at lock and made metres whenever he got the ball.

“He was really dominant on the carry as well. Outstanding. I think, yeah, there's no doubt. That's why I didn't take him off. I mean, there's just no doubt. He gave us a go-forward ball. He's dynamic.

“You know, those kick-offs. I mean, you're talking about a guy who is generally a four-lock catching kick-offs and running it back. One stage, sliding on the ground, catching a ball. So, yeah, I was very happy with him. Very, very happy with the effort he put in and, as I said, the 80-minute stint that he had tonight.”

The Bulls will name their side for the clash on Thursday.