'If I’m not the right guy, I’ll walk away too,' says Jake after taking over Currie Cup reins

Bulls director of rugby Jake White said Edgar Marutlulle was "relieved" after being demoted back down to the Blue Bulls juniors and that he would also be willing to "walk away" if he was not the right person to coach the team.

Pressure has ramped up on the Bulls following a poor string of 10 consecutive losses in all competitions since January.

On Wednesday, White took the Currie Cup reins permanently after Marutlulle, appointed as Currie Cup coach at the age of 35 in March, was demoted to being their Under-20 team assistant and Under-19 head coach.

Marutlulle had overseen just three Currie Cup matches.

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White took over the Blue Bulls’ loss to Western Province and oversaw six defeats in European competitions on the trot. But the former Springbok World Cup-winning coach said the decision to demote Marutlulle wasn’t a sign of panic.

"It’s not a case of panic. Not at all. Why would it be a panicked response?" said White.

"It’s making decisions in the best interests of everybody.

"At the end of the day, if I’m not the right guy, I’ll walk away as well. It’s not like there’s rules for some people and rules for other people.

"We’ve had a very tough season. To put it into perspective, we’ve lost Marcell Coetzee, Duane Vermeulen, Trevor Nyakane, Walt Steenkamp, Madosh Tambwe and other teams have gained players.

"And that’s not an excuse - it’s just the lay of the land. We had a very tough two months over the Christmas period in terms of fixtures – playing the Sharks and Stormers, then Exeter and Lyon.

"Edgar put the union first. If we need to make some changes to get different results or energy in the group, then we’re going to have to do that.