Are a lack of Boks really the cause of the Bulls problems?

Has Jake White admitted that his approach to recruitment at the Vodacom Bulls has been a failure?

It certainly could be taken that way after White said in the aftermath of the Heineken Champions’ Cup loss against Toulouse that the Bulls need more Springboks in their side.

White referenced the Sharks’ plethora of current Springbok players as the difference in the European competition and lamented the fact he currently only has two - winger Canan Moodie and utility back Kurt-Lee Arendse - in his line-up.

MORE SPRINGBOKS?

Asked whether the difference was that other teams had more Springboks, White latched onto the point.

“Yes, yes, yes, and I’ve said that earlier. It puts things into perspective… I say to you guys week-in and week-out, you see how Kurt-Lee and Canan change our team, and they are only two Springboks who might not even start in the World Cup, because you’ve got (Makazole) Mapimpi, Cheslin Kolbe and Willie (le Roux) and Damian (Willemse),” White explained.

“So, these two guys who won’t even start in the World Cup have made a massive difference to our game. When you put that into context and you’ve got teams like the Stormers, who’ve got 11 Springboks, and Sharks have 10 or 11, it’s very different.

“I was just saying to one of the guys in the change-room that I think Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack have got more tests together than our whole team have test-match experience.”

White then turned to the Sharks and said their win over Munster came as a direct consequence of their Springbok-filled side.

CONTRAST TO SHARKS

“I was watching the Sharks play, and we beat the Sharks twice in the Currie Cup final and in the URC quarterfinal. So, over the last few years, we’ve dominated the Sharks,” White said.

“What’s changed? So they signed Bongi Mbonambi, Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Carlu Sadie, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Francois Venter, Vincent Tshituka.

“We, in an unfortunate circumstance, lost Marcell Coetzee, Arno Botha, Duane Vermeulen, Trevor Nyakane, Walt Steenkamp, Madosh Tambwe. The learnings are, it is what it is, and we’ve got to now adapt to what we have. A couple of guys put their hands up again and that’s part and parcel of where we want to get to as a group.

“I don’t want to sound like a stuck record, but we are far off from where we need to be to win this competition. We are far off from where we want to be as a union and how we foresee where we are, in terms of where we need to get to.”

RECRUITMENT POLICY

What is perhaps a little more murky is the fact that White has been signing players, and chose to leave Springboks Johan Goosen, Lizo Gqoboka and Lionel Mapoe as well as Wandisile Simelane and Jacques du Plessis at home to play Currie Cup.

While they may not be current Springboks, this has to be seen in the light of the recruitment policy of the Bulls to sign experienced players who are not currently in the national set-up.

It is understandable, especially as the international season and the Vodacom United Rugby Championship overlap late in the year and teams could see months without their Springboks.

So White has signed more former Springboks than current ones and for a while it has worked for the Bulls.

Against Toulouse, it wasn’t as if there wasn’t experience in the side. Other than Moodie and Arendse, the Bulls still sported former Springboks Cornal Hendricks, Bismarck du Plessis, Morne Steyn and Embrose Papier in their squad, while captain Ruan Nortje and flankers Elrigh Louw and Marco van Staden are all part of an extended Springbok squad over the last two years.

Even the Bulls recruitment for the coming season is based on players not being involved in the national set-up. Players like Jannes Kirsten, Henry Immelmann and Wilco Louw have all been signed with Scotland fringe player Jaco van der Walt also on their radar. While all of these players have European experience, they aren’t near a national squad at the moment.

QUESTIONS ABOUND

So the question needs to be asked if the Bulls really are missing Springbok players or have simply found themselves in a hole they haven’t been able to get out of?

Part of the danger of signing players who are no longer international stars is that their sell-by date can be reached rather quickly.

This seems to be the case with some of the Bulls players, and losing captain Marcell Coetzee to Japan hasn’t helped, nor has the departure of Walt Steenkamp from the pack. Both made a massive difference and while Coetzee will return, the Bulls pack doesn’t have the same punch without them.

The loose trio - while all exceptional players in Van Staden, Louw and Cyle Brink - almost are too similar in style and physicality to offer something different where say, the Stormers, have someone like Hacjivah Dayimani and the Sharks and Lions have one of the Tshituka brothers to give them that explosive spark when they need it.

Some of the Bulls signings that have been extremely disappointing in their play include Johan Goosen and Jacques du Plessis, both who have struggled with injuries and despite arriving with the reputation of being perennially injured, were backed by White and have struggled to find form.

FOCUS ON PLAYOFFS

While the recruitment policy will be one of the major talking points over the next few months at Loftus Versfeld, the immediate focus is to make sure they make the URC playoffs. After several losses their next two games against Zebre and Leinster are must wins for them if they want to shock the entire country and then cause a playoff shock away from home.

Making the playoffs is also important to ensure they qualify for the Champions’ Cup next season, and not be condemned to the EPCR Challenge Cup.

White believes he will get it right, and right now it could only be a blip on the horizon for the Bulls.

“We will get it right. We need to look at our squad, the way we rotated our players or whatever the story is and do a review.

“But in this moment in time, it is to get home, make sure we play well in the Currie Cup, and make sure we qualify for the URC playoffs.”

At the same time, there is no guarantee that signing more Springboks would win more games.

Something else seems to be amiss at Loftus Versfeld and the Bulls need to figure out what it is.

Before their disappointment of the season can get worse.