White lauds Bulls' Grobbelaar and Le Roux for Jukskei heroics

Bulls director of rugby Jake White gave hooker Johan Grobbelaar rave reviews after his team's 31-19 win over the Lions in the United Rugby Championship (URC) at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Springbok hooker was in the thick of things, spreading his influence across the field as the Bulls continued their stranglehold over the neighbours in the URC.

“I can't believe he wasn't man of the match,” said an incredulous White. “The people who award man of the match don't know what they are looking at. But it is not for me to decide.

“I'm not saying Stedman [Gans, who was named man of the match] was poor, I just thought 'Grobbies' was outstanding. The tackle on Horn and the turnover he made right at the death. That is unbelievable for a guy that has played 79 minutes before that turnover,” said White.

He was almost as lavish in his praise of flyhalf Willie le Roux who was far more effective against the Lions than he was against the Sharks a week earlier.

White draws comfort from having the Springbok fullback on the field. “Last week I probably took him off too early, he was carrying a niggle and maybe I was too conservative. Willie understands when to run and when to kick and that makes a difference for us. There is guidance from him to the other players.”

Le Roux's leadership skills were at play as the hosts were restored to more familiar formation after they went out of shape allowing the Lions back into the match.

“We had no Marcell Coetzee, no Elrigh Louw, or Ruan Nortje, the guys who are leaders. We made it difficult for ourselves,” explained White. “We tightened things up and that's where Willie helped us. Irrespective what is his best position, we need him close.”

White was frustrated his side let the feisty neighbours back into the match after his team established a 17-0 advantage within the first quarter of an hour.

“The first 12 minutes were the best we've played against anybody,” said the coach. His team, however, didn't take full toll and the Lions seized the moment.

“We weren't brave enough,” White lamented the events that led to the Lions' opening try.

“They don't go away. They had two tries disallowed which could have made for a difficult last 10 minutes. I'm glad we got on top of them because they are a difficult team to beat. They are well coached and fit,” he said about the Lions.

Despite his team's poor start, Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen did not want to pin the result of the game on the events that unfolded in the opening 12 minutes when the Bulls ran in three tries.

He was confident his team could go the distance after the Lions clawed their way back into the match.

“We thought we had enough in the tank in the second half. We had two tries disallowed so that breaks the momentum again. To have created the chances to score five tries speaks volumes of our attack. In the end we had too many penalties against us and there were too many individual errors. We'll take a good look at that.”

It didn't help that the Lions lost their star centre Henco van Wyk to an ankle injury in the second half.

“It is an old ankle (injury). Hopefully he'll be OK. He was willing to push for another 10, but I took the decision as a precautionary measure.”

Though it was the Bulls' seventh win in eight URC matches against the Lions, the coach does not subscribe to the view the matchup has become a hoodoo.

“We are on the edge of turning things around.”