Bulls coach Jake White said he is proud of his young team for claiming a narrow 33-31 victory against Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday.

White selected a young side with several of his players on international duty and held a 15-0 lead at one point before Edinburgh put together an impressive comeback powered by a Darcy Graham hat-trick.

Morne Steyn wins it again

However, it was veteran Morne Steyn who kicked the winning penalty for the Pretoria side, who are two wins from two in the new season.

White praised his side, who were relatively inexperienced and was proud that his players found a way to win the game. The 58-year-old also lauded Steyn for his composure in key moments, an attribute he held his whole career.

“None of the front row have played Test rugby, nor the reserve front row; the locks are relatively young. We still have one of the youngest teams in the competition,” White said.

“We will get better, and this sort of result – when you get a win after not playing well – is also something that helps you speed up that process.

“What more can I say about Morné: it’s almost like he’s been born to kick those kicks. He seems to love those pressure situations.”

Consistency needed

White thought his side was good in certain periods, but small mistakes let Edinburgh back into the game. However, the coach also highlighted how fine the margins are at this level.

“There were times that I thought we were outstanding. We defended certain sets, like three, four, five phases perfectly. Then all of a sudden, we missed a tackle and were chasing each other again,” White said.

“Then attack-wise as well – there was a moment there when we were chasing and trying to score a try from the halfway line. We kept the ball for phase after phase after phase, and our attack looked really good.

“Then we’d make a poor pass … I think there was a pass that went behind David (Kriel), and it was on. If David had caught that – the timing was just wrong – we would’ve got outside them.

“I’m repeating myself: this is a young team. We mustn’t get ahead of ourselves. We are far from where we need to be, experience-wise. But saying to them, we found a way to win, to show composure …

“I’ve coached for a long time, and some teams would lose there. Some teams would be in basically the same situation and accept that it’s not their day. And yet, with four or five minutes to go, we could still win the game.

“That’s a massive bonus as a group … a massive confidence builder as a group too.”

The Bulls‘ next challenge is another home game against Connacht on Friday, who come off a 38-15 defeat to defending champions the Stormers.

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