Jake White is making the most of a large Vodacom Bulls tour squad, rotating the URC front-runners’ lineup to face Edinburgh on Friday.
White made 14 changes to the Bulls matchday 23 for the clash at the Hive Stadium, and retained a 6-2 split bench after the tactic helped The Herd beat Cardiff in Wales last week.
After four rounds, the Bulls top the log with 15 points, with back-to-back games at Loftus Versfeld – against Connacht (25 November) and the Sharks (2 December) – following their return to the Republic.
Speaking in a Bulls conference on Thursday, White told reporters: “We’ve got Connacht next week, then the Sharks, and then we’ve got Saracens [in the Champions Cup]; it’s a tough month ahead for us and I would like to just rotate and keep guys fresh. You’ve got to keep them game-ready.
“We’ve brought 33 guys on tour, which is a lot more than the other squads, and the reason for that is the board and my CEO [Edgar Rathbone] have understood that if we had played four weeks at home we wouldn’t have used the same 28 players.
“So I’m very fortunate we’ve been allowed to bring more players, and as it stands there’s only been one player who hasn’t played on tour and he’s the third-choice tighthead.”
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He added: “It’s fantastic that we’re top of the log after a short stint but more importantly it’s fantastic that I’ve been able to use 32 of the 33 players, which is good for our depth, our confidence, and our morale.
“There’s a lot for us to play for and we’ve got an opportunity to stay top of the log, and any team would like to do that.”
White bore the brunt of the criticism for the Bulls’ 2022-23 performances which included a run of 10 consecutive losses in all competitions, and the former Springbok boss left no stone unturned in the off-season, recruiting several seasoned veterans and overhauling his backroom staff.
Yet, it’s the 59-year-old tactician’s enlightened selection approach that’s contributed most to the Pretoria outfit’s turnaround.
“As I said at the beginning of the year, the one thing I’ve learned from last year is that I probably never rotated enough and it caught us at the back end of the competition,” White said.
“So this year there’s a little bit more change, a little bit more opportunities for other guys so we can get strength in our squad.
“It’s something I’ve had to think about and after last week, I was so really chuffed and proud that we made so many changes and not only did we win, but it was the way we played.”
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