Africa-Press – South-Africa. Jake White’s December gamble on resting his Bulls first-team big guns for the Champions Cup drew a mixed reaction from former Lions Super Rugby coach Swys de Bruin.
White played a hoard of youngsters during the Champions Cup opening two rounds against Lyon at Loftus and Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park, where they won and lost, respectively.
White pinned his hopes on getting something out of the two South African United Rugby Championship (URC) derbies against the Stormers in Cape Town and the Sharks in Durban, where they lost both times.
Having beaten the Dragons away, the Bulls are home this week for the return leg of the Exeter clash, which presents a good time to take stock of White’s gamble over the tough travelling period from 10 December to now.
White called the period “two months of hell” after his team went from Pretoria to England, Cape Town, Durban and Wales before coming back home.
“You make a call and then you hope the cards will fall your way,” De Bruin said.
“I think it went halfway there. The derbies he lost weren’t good for him and the franchise.
“And, if you look at the Dragons, I don’t know how good the win is really. The Dragons and Zebre, these are teams you should beat with your B team, home or away.
“It’s just one of those. We’ll only see at the end.
“The Bulls on the two logs are sitting in decent positions. The Stormers are much better off.”
The Sharks have followed suit in overhauling their first team for selected matches after resting their big names for the URC clash with Connacht in Galway last weekend.
The team, led by their Currie Cup head coach Joey Mongalo, suffered a 24-12 defeat in tricky, windy conditions as their inexperience told.
De Bruin said he preferred the John Dobson Stormers method of mixing youngsters with first-team regulars when resting players.
The Stormers had to negotiate a 40-hour trip to Scotland, where they lost 24-17 to former Griquas wing Kyle Steyn’s Glasgow Warriors after a last-minute try.
The Capetonians, like the Bulls, lost one and won one (Clermont and London Irish, respectively) in the Champions Cup.
“I like what the Stormers have done, a lot,” said De Bruin.
“Look at the 19-year-old scrumhalf Imad Khan from Bishops. What you do with him is pair him with an experienced flyhalf and a good No 8.
“It’s not just a youth team, where you go for gold or sink. If you play a young centre, play him with an experienced guy, so that gets the mix and balance right.
“I’m not saying the Stormers way is right because it was very tough on Dobbo (Dobson).”
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