Benetton's victory must spur Bulls response

Benetton’s clinical performance in dismantling not only the Vodacom Bulls’ hopes in the RainCup final, but also giving South African teams a big wake-up call will be sobering reading for most coaches locally ahead of the entry into Europe.

But in terms of entry into the United Rugby Championship in September it couldn’t come at a better point.

The pandemic robbed South Africa of a response as the only north-south franchise game outside the Lions tour will be remembered for what happened on the field in Treviso.

And while the Bulls performance was far below their own standards, or that expected of a South African side, it was a day when the perfect storm hit them and they had no answer.

That would be the fact that concerns White the most, that his team could not adapt as they have in South African derbies. Perhaps the unknown, the partisan small crowd and the referee were all factors, but they can hardly be used as excuses in the professional era.

If the Rainbow Cup had gone ahead as planned, such a weekend would be followed with a response, but the Bulls have little chance other than the Currie Cup to show that response to the world.

And even if they do respond well, they will be reminded that it is only the Currie Cup they are playing in.

The Pretoria side will have to stomach the result until they get back into Europe and will only be able to show then if it is an anomaly or a deeper worrying trend. While it is likely the former, the young group of players will need to learn from the experience, and quickly.

“To be fair, I’ve enjoyed the highs with players since we won the Super Rugby Unlocked competition, but we mustn’t forget that we don’t have the right to win everywhere,” White said after the game, underlining the fact that the Bulls possibly were lulled into a false sense of security by their own South African success.

“Those guys at Benetton may not be household names but they play test rugby and at home they are a tough side. Small margins are punished and our youngsters felt the pressure for the first time.

“I don’t enjoy this but we have to find our feet and accept we were convincingly beaten by a well-coached team.”

White was honest in his brutal assessment of his own side, saying they didn’t play well in any phase.

“I can’t single out any player, and I can’t single out an area we put a stamp down on - whether the setpiece or attack we were a bit short of pace in everything.

“I am a realist and we have got a winning group but we got it wrong today. You can’t play catch-up rugby in the north. This isn’t local derbies, it is a different level of rugby.”

White added that one bad game doesn’t make this a bad team but the performance was nowhere near what the Bulls expect of themselves.

“This is a lesson for everybody in the group. We have to take it and by the time we get off the plane and back to Pretoria we will have to have moved on,” he added.

White has had experience of big losses before, and has bounced back. In professional sport, there is only one way - to move on and come back stronger.

Otherwise the Treviso nightmare will be with the Bulls for a lot longer than they want