Bulls coach Jake White may be missing a trick

Bulls director of rugby Jake White admitted he may be missing a trick after his team suffered a shock 21-16 defeat at the hands of Glasgow Warriors in the United Rugby Championship (URC) final at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

He committed to a bout of introspection after his heavily favoured team, who reached a home final on the back of scorching form, could not repeat the heroics that saw them beat off the challenge of Leinster in the semifinal.

They found the Warriors a harder nut to crack and will lament missed opportunities that might have taken the game away from the never-say-die visitors.

The Bulls enjoyed a 13-0 lead but the Warriors inexorably clawed their way back into the contest on the back of a timely try by the highly combative Matt Fagerson just before the break.

Though his players lacked composure and wilted under the pressure of the occasion, White is curious about whether he is the common denominator in final defeats.

“There’s nothing I can say that can make it any easier. We lost away against the Stormers and we’ve lost at home,” he said.

“I myself lost the Super Rugby final against the Chiefs [while with the Brumbies], the Rainbow Cup in Treviso, lost two URC finals. I will probably need to look at what I need to do as a coach to get over the line.

“I wonder if I'm missing a trick but I'm gonna have to find out what that trick is. It is a checklist I have to work out.”

Every time White was on the road to being magnanimous he chose an off ramp.

“If I'm honest about where we are, three years, two finals with a young team. Every guy that came on for Glasgow Warriors is an international. We are not there yet.”

He was less pleased with how the maul was officiated.

“It was a maul penalty strangely enough. There were no other maul penalties,” he said about the moment that precipitated the visitors' first try.

“In that last maul there were more guys on our side of the maul than their side,” he said about the game's climax when the Warriors twice repelled the Bulls.

“As an older guy you have to learn to take the good with the bad.”

Asked about the Warriors' ability to spoil ball in the line-out he said: “A big factor for us was them pulling us back on our way to the try line.”

Without directly calling referees' integrity into question White drew parallels he finds a point of interest.

“It is twice in a row now the referee lets the away team win. In fact, three times. Munster won in Cape Town, Glasgow won in Munster, we won in Leinster and this referee lets the away team win.

“Maybe next year we'll ask when we play away who will try to ref us.”

The World Cup-winning coach, who confidently held court after the semifinal win over Leinster, cut a downcast figure on Saturday night.

“I’m unhappy. I’m helluva disappointed. We missed an opportunity tonight. I waited a long time for this press conference,” he said bizarrely after making the assembled media wait for his post-match arrival.

He praised the Warriors' defence noting the Bulls' big ball carriers made little headway. On that score he wondered whether barrel-chested Marcell Coetzee might have provided them some go-forward.

“The one guy that would have bumped people off in that game is him. However, if we got an injury in the first minute I'm not sure he would have been ready after being out for 10 minutes. We will be there next year. That is what I can tell you.”

As if a character from a sci-fi movie White made a promise that will likely linger in the collective memory of disappointed Bulls fans.

“We will be back. I know we'll be playing Glasgow away. I’ve already marked the date.”