Where Jake White ranks the Bulls' win over Leinster

Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White is a formidable coach with many conquests, including a World Cup gold medal.

He rates the Bulls’ United Rugby Championship semifinal victory over Leinster at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend as one of the best in his long and illustrious career.

White was forthright when asked at the post-match media debrief what the win over Leo Cullen’s Leinster meant to him.

“This is one of the biggest wins I’ve ever had as a coach,” he said without hesitation.

After coaching the Springboks to World Cup glory in 2007, White held several roles. He worked with the International Rugby Board (now World Rugby) between 2008 and 2012. He returned to coaching and had a spell with the Brumbies in 2012 and 2013.

At that time the Brumbies recorded an historic win over the British and Irish Lions. He followed that up with a Challenge Cup win at French club Montpellier Hérault in 2016.

“I was lucky enough at the Brumbies to beat the British and Irish Lions,” White said.

“I was lucky at the Bulls to beat South Africa A in Cape Town [17-14 in 2021].

“But I would say man for man and with the pressure that comes with a game like this and especially because Ireland are coming here in three weeks.

“That’s probably the bonus that I feel that this would rank this as one of the best club [franchise] results I’ve had.

“And I say that because the Brumbies must come close.

“You’ve beaten the British and Irish team with a Brumbies team without their Wallaby players, because all the Wallabies were away on camp.

“But in the modern game, and I’m talking now in the modern game with the way professionalism and the way the game has gone and what Ireland has achieved.

“This Irish team has beaten the All Blacks and the Springboks.

“So for a club [franchise] team, and I say club team [meaning] no Canan [Moodie], no Kurt-Lee [Arendse], no Marcell Coetzee.

“It must rank for me as one of the best wins we’ve ever had,” White exclaimed.

He lauded the defensive efforts of his side, saying if a South African player decided this was the day that he was going to tackle, no one would get through.

“It’s like a school game in Pofadder.

“They might not score a lot of tries, but they tackle the hell out of each other.

“And today [Saturday] it looked like that.

“It looked like everyone was never going to let you through.

“That’s a credit to the fact that Leinster can attack,” the Bulls boss said.

White credited everyone in the Bulls system for the victory.

“The game plan has been spot-on.

“We got it right. We played in a way that Leinster never expected us to play.

“And that’s what you need to do when you get to these games.

“If you just do the same things, you end up running into a wall.

“The board, the CEO, the coaches – we all understand what kind of players we want and who want to get to the club.”