Having watched his team silence the boisterous Basque fans at Stade Jean Dauger at the weekend, Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White now plans a two-pronged assault on Europe.
The Bulls, who bludgeoned Aviron Bayonne into submission with brute force for a 32-22 Challenge Cup Round of 16 win in France at the weekend, now head to Edinburgh to face the Scottish outfit in a Challenge Cup quarterfinal face-off.
It is a Scottish team that comfortably dismissed a lame Lions outfit at the weekend.
After the Edinburgh encounter, the Bulls will stay in Europe for a fortnight of URC action.
In the last four rounds of URC league action, the Bulls face Munster away (April 19), Glasgow Warriors away (April 26), the host Cardiff in Pretoria (May 10) and the Dragons (May 17).
If they are still in the Challenge Cup, the Pretoria-based franchise will have a semifinal date in early May – between the Glasgow and Cardiff matches.
After two more rounds of URC action – Cardiff and Dragons – the Bulls may have a Challenge Cup Final on May 23.
The URC quarterfinals are after that, at the end of May, followed by the semifinals (June 7) and the Final (June 14).
White spoke of the ‘learning curve’ of playing in France – a lesson his team can take forward as they look to stay alive in two European competitions.
“The players showed they want to do well in this [Challenge Cup] competition as well,” White said.
The Bulls boss said he will continue to ‘manage’ his players through the next 10 weeks as they chase success in two tournaments.
In Bayonne, he was able to bring the likes of Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Ruan Nortje, Cameron Hanekom, Embrose Papier, Johan Goosen and Stedman Gans off a Springbok-laden bench.
(WATCH as Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White reveals his plan for a two-pronged attack on European competitions….)
“It is also about managing players that are coming back from injuries,” he said, adding: “If we play every game, 10 fixtures are remaining.
“It will be a massive balancing act to get the best players into all these games.
“They are now all knock-out games.”
With only 30 players on tour, White will now consider flying in some reinforcements – depending on injuries.
“If we beat Edinburgh, we will have another week on tour. Then, we will bring in some additional players.
“Some guys will join us next week, which will help us to have more players available for training.”
The Bulls boss said some of the tries they scored in the win over Bayonne will give them ‘confidence’ for the tough road ahead.
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