Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White has praised his side for their dominant second-half performance against Benetton on Friday night.
The Bulls trailed 9-3 at half time before scoring five tries to run out comfortable 44-22 winners and finish a disappointing three-match Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour on a high.
“The second half was fantastic,” White said afterwards. “We had lots of [scoring] chances in the first half but just didn’t finish them off. To be fair, two of their penalties, one was a knock-on straight from Kurt-Lee [Arendse] on to a player, and the other one was an easy offsides penalty, so we probably gave them a couple of points there.
“We also kept them out in the first half and defended unbelievably well, but we played all the rugby in our half. Not because we wanted to, it was just that they were squeezing us in our own half. We played some good rugby in our own half but didn’t get the reward of getting up the field.
“We got that reward in the second half by making linebreaks and putting their defence under pressure. I thought our defence tonight was outstanding because we put them under pressure and got lots of turnovers at the breakdown and in the tackle.
“It’s wonderful to finish off [the tour] with 40 points in the second half and a bonus-point win, because – and I’m not just saying this – Treviso is a tough place to play.”
HIGHLIGHTS: Bulls’ second-half surge buries Benetton
White said the victory was “a massive relief for the players” following defeats by the Glasgow Warriors and Munster. It also avenged the Bulls’ loss to Benneton in the Rainbow Cup final.
“They obviously didn’t want to come here and lose another game, so I’m really proud of them. I’m proud of the way they stuck together this week and the way they trained. Now they’ve got some return on the effort they put in.
“We can now get back home and get ready for a massive clash against the Sharks [at Loftus next Sunday].”
