Director of rugby Jake White said the Vodacom Bulls benefited from a “ruthless” display of Champions Cup rugby in their narrow win against Saracens on Saturday.
The Bulls streaked to an early 20-6 lead and then held on to launch their 2023-24 campaign with a 27-16 victory in Pretoria.
White’s troops scored three tries and had a further three called back, while Saracens conceded two yellow cards and a red.
But, the reigning Premiership champions and three-time Champions Cup winners rallied in the second half to deny the Bulls a four-try bonus-point and came within one late try of leaving the Republic with a losing bonus point.
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Speaking post-match at Loftus Versfeld, White told reporters: “I’m very happy to beat a team like that. It’s quite ironic, people say you should’ve put them away and given them 50 points.
“You don’t become a team like Saracens and you’re 20 points up and they just give you the bonus point and they just give you a 50-point win.
“I’m very happy with the way we started and that created momentum for us, but I always knew it was going to go to the wire and that’s because they’re such a championship team.”
He added: “To be honest, I think we learnt a lot from that game too, the way they defended their try line at the end to not give us a bonus point just shows the quality of the group they have.
“So a lot of learnings for us as well. If you want to be the champions and you want to play at this level, even on your bad days you have to be as ruthless as they were at the end.
“This group that played tonight has beaten Connacht, have beaten the Sharks convincingly, and now beaten Saracens. Like anything, when you’re winning and there’s confidence and people are enjoying their rugby, that has a domino effect.
“I’ve no doubt this will hold us in good stead for big games.”
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White also did not hold back in his condemnation of sections of the Loftus crowd that booed Saracens skipper Owen Farrell, who kicked two penalties on the night.
“I am apologising for all the booing of Owen Farrell. It is not who we [the Bulls] are,” the Bulls boss said. “I don’t understand all the negativity. He is an unbelievable player. What he has achieved in England is phenomenal.
“I am disappointed. I wanted the people to enjoy the fact that they get to see him play. You equate that to watching Tiger Woods play golf and [Michael] Jordan playing basketball.
“I must apologise, because it [booing] is not really who we are. We will address that.”
Well played, @BlueBullsRugby 🤝
Thanks for having us in Pretoria. #YourSaracens💫#InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/CMBIykv0JK
— Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) December 9, 2023
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images