Bulls coach White impressed by defence in win over Cardiff

Bulls coach Jake White was full of praise for his defence after they thrashed Cardiff 45-9 in their one-sided United Rugby Championship (URC) match at Loftus on Saturday night.

The Bulls ran in six unanswered tries, including a well-taken brace by emerging Bok winger Canan Moodie, as they moved to second spot on the standings behind Leinster and ahead of the Stormers in third.

A deserved bonus-point win for White and his men was overshadowed by the news that their Springbok wing Sbu Nkosi has been missing for three weeks without trace.

Reflecting on the match, White said the scoreline was not a true reflection of the game as they had to work hard for the win, but he was satisfied with the performances of Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse.

“I just have no doubt that when you have Canan Moodie defending on the edge, he understands everything. It’s unbelievable — he shows maturity defensively with the tackles he makes when he has to close the gate.

“When he has to wait and when he sees he has numbers on him he makes the right call. Obviously him and Kurt-Lee Arendse understand each other very well.

“The other thing I was pleased about is that we lost David Kriel early on and Cornal Hendricks defended very well on the edge as well. It was a 45-9 win, but I don’t think the scoreline is a true indicator.

“I think they are a much better side than that and they showed that by beating the Stormers and the Sharks. For me it is a bonus in that they beat two SA sides and we got a bonus point. That is a massive swing in the competition itself.”

White is excited about the impact Moodie and Arendse are going to have in the competition and during the Heineken Cup.

“Every time Canan or Kurt-Lee catch the ball you can sense something is going to happen. When you combine that with guys like Cornal and Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster and Johan Goosen, when he is on song, it is fantastic.

“The challenge now is that we have to give them good ball on the front foot. In the beginning we couldn’t get the rhythm, there were a lot of slow balls, but as soon as Goosen could run into it and open up holes we put people away. That is pleasing.”