‘We basically dominated every single part of the game’ – Jake White claims the Bulls ‘didn’t get beaten’ by the Sharks

Bulls director of rugby Jake White was let frustrated after his team suffered a narrow 20-17 defeat against the Sharks in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) clash in Durban.

The defeat was the Pretoria-based outfit’s third loss in a row in all competitions, after they were beaten by Saracens and Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup, and White was left questioning whether he and his players are not on the same page.

‘It’s frustrating’

“It’s three weeks in a row now where we’ve had situations where we can put them [opponents] away. We basically dominated every single part of the game and never won it. It’s frustrating,” he told reporters after the loss to the Sharks.

White admitted that the Bulls are far from reaching the heights which he had envisioned for the team and believes a dose of introspection might help them return to the victory trail.

“I don’t think the players are not trying, and I don’t think the players are necessarily bad players,” he said.

“I just feel that we look like we’re swimming against a current all the time. I’m not sure whether I’m getting from them what I thought I’d get out of them this season.”

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The Bulls held the upper hand for long periods against the Sharks but despite their dominance, they made critical unforced errors which eventually cost them the match.

“When it’s on, we look fantastic [but] there’s little things; we kick when we should run, we run when we should kick, we get a penalty advantage and we give the ball back.

“That’s not them; I just don’t understand if we’re quite in sync, and it’s frustrating.”

Still the leading SA side in the URC

Despite their poor recent form, the Bulls are in third position in the URC standings and are still the leading South African side in the tournament.

They have amassed 25 points from seven matches while the Sharks are two points adrift and White is confident they can return to winning ways in 2025, although he highlighted the importance of fixing their persistent mistakes.

“I’m never going to say it’s panic stations; we’re top of the [SA Shield] log and played five of our seven games away from home, so there’s a lot of upturn that’s going to come in the new year,” added White.

“But like anything, it’s like if you make the same mistakes, that’s the frustration. We didn’t get beaten tonight – we lost.”

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