Jake White versus Franco Smith is a battle of two outstanding rugby minds, both with international coaching experience and both leading the charge into this season’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship play-offs.
If rugby is a contact sport, then in the week there has been as much chess played by both coaches in their preparations in their off-field approach to getting a win at Loftus in Pretoria on Saturday.
Smith, a former Springbok, has been a revelation at Glasgow’s Warriors and claiming the scalp of White’s Vodacom Bulls at Loftus in Pretoria would be massive on a personal level and in the context of the Warriors’ aspirations to finish the league in first place.
Smith played the last of his nine Tests for the Springboks, at Loftus against the All Blacks in 1999. The Boks lost 34-18.
Now Smith is eyeing a different type of result and emotion at Loftus, albeit in a different guise and in a different era, with this weekend’s match 25 years on from the disappointment of the All Blacks defeat and the end of his Test career.
With three rounds of the regular season remaining, the Vodacom Bulls are in fourth place with 51 points, trailing leaders Glasgow Warriors (58).
Smith, who spent several years playing and coaching in Italy, which included a spell as coach of the Italian national side, has added an attacking dimension to Glasgow’s armour and Saturday’s blockbuster in Pretoria is being billed as a try festival.
White’s Bulls have scored the most tries in the league, with 68, and the Warriors and Leinster are joint second with 64 tries.
Glasgow Warriors have 12 wins in the 2023-24 campaign, and speaking in the run-up to this week’s clash, Vodacom Bulls co-captain Ruan Nortje acknowledged the potency of the league leaders.
“They play at an incredible pace and they catch teams off guard,” he told reporters.
“This is one of those teams that is sometimes seven or 10 points ahead within a few minutes. They have a good group of players together, and Franco Smith seems to have established a good culture and he knows how to win at Loftus (from his days with the Cheetahs).”
Bulls teammate Jannes Kirsten, who made his long-awaited debut in the Vodacom URC in a 61-24 win against Ospreys at Loftus two weeks ago, added: “We can see in the way Glasgow attacks, and their set piece, there is a lot of South African influence, but the message will be the same: it’s going to be a battle in the set piece.
“They’ve scored the most maul tries in the competition, and that’s also a big indication of what they’re focusing on. We’re also going to look at exposing them on attack but it’s going to come down to who is going to control the tempo and stay in control of the ball and the game they want to play. It’s going to be a good one.”
Following their mauling of Ospreys, the Vodacom Bulls are assured of a place in the final eight but a maiden home semi-final is still a possibility if White’s Bulls can maintain their rampant run by steamrolling the Glasgow Warriors.
“We’re in a very good place, we’re obviously pushing for home playoffs and it’s still in our hands, so it’s a great position to be in,” Kirsten said. “You have to treat the last three games like a playoff because we’ve got to win to get those home playoffs. Fortunately it’s not about what other teams have to do or not do, or who has to win or lose so we can get home playoffs.
“The main focus is to get the points and if we do our part, we can really push on. The next two games at home are going to be really important for us.”
White, who has targeted the Vodacom URC as the title he wants this season, knows the value of home ground advantage when it comes to play-offs. But he also knows that his team can be beaten in Pretoria, as evidenced by Munster three weeks ago.
Playing at home, said White, is an advantage, but it is never a guarantee to victory.
There is a lot of respect within the Vodacom Bulls camp for Smith and for what he is building in Glasgow and there is enough honesty from the Bulls players that to win they have to be at their best.
dark burn
South Africa is a country that loves variety when it comes to sports. A wide range of sports is being played in South Africa, including cricket, football, rugby, tennis, basketball, boxing, golf, athletics, etc. The country and its people are always excited about some game. For them, there are a lot of matches to watch and tournaments to bet on. Someone living in South Africa can never run out of sports content because they are pretty active in that segment. Moreover, from kids to older people, everyone enjoys sports in South Africa, regardless of their participation in South African betting companies.
RedFeet
Alistair Cook – 294 Runs, Edgbaston 2011; Michael Clarke – 329 Runs, Sydney 2012; Brendon McCullum – 302 Runs, Wellington 2014. They were all dropped by Ishant Sharma early on in their innings.