Jake White South Africa URC Bulls Jake White South Africa

Nortje chuffed with Bulls 'character' in coping with recovering Jake's absence

news24.com

Rest up, we'll be more than fine.That's the message from Ruan Nortje and his Bulls teammates to their director of rugby Jake White, who's currently recovering from emergency surgery on Sunday.The 59-year-old was rushed to hospital after complaining about severe abdominal pain upon the side's arrival back in South Africa following last weekend's URC victory over the Dragons.Franchise management subsequently have confirmed that all the extensive follow-up tests done on White have come back negative, putting him out of any "immediate danger".He is also being moved out of ICU to a general ward.While White's group of assistants - Nollis Marais, Chris Rossouw, Russell Winter, Werner Kruger and Pine Pienaar - will share coaching duties for the next month, this temporary dynamic is hardly an unfamiliar one for the team.In fact, Nortje admitted that the players already got a taste of it last week given that White was confined to his hotel bed for the duration of the trip to Wales.READ | Bulls mentor Jake White undergoes successful emergency surgery"He was unwell the whole week, so the other coaches really took charge effectively.

We all understand the system that coach Jake has implemented. It was quite easy to adapt to," the lanky second-rower and captain said on Tuesday."It's never nice not having your head coach around, but in the end his health is the main priority and and we really wish him a speedy recovery."White's affliction had the potential to shove the Bulls onto a slippery slope in their campaign following two comprehensive derby defeats to the Stormers and Sharks and a hectic playing schedule looming, but Nortje hailed the steel shown in the Dragons win."We really showed great character.

Related News
Fast bowler Anrich Nortje is eager to carry his T20 form into the longer format ahead of the Proteas' ODI series against England this week.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena remained humble and magnanimous in the glory of a record 12-match unbeaten run that was attained through a 1-0 win against Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
MANCHESTER, England : Manchester United will be able to cope without influential midfielder Casemiro at leaders Arsenal in Sunday's Premier League game, manager Erik ten Hag said on Friday.
Against their usual modus operandi, the Bulls have resisted the temptation to completely overhaul their Champions Cup team for the Lyon clash on Friday night.
The Bulls have announced a strong 31-man touring squad for fixtures in Europe for the Champions Cup and United Rugby Championship (URC).

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.