Should Bulls copy La Rochelle in toppling mighty Leinster? Hold your horses, says Jake

There's a more obscure adage that goes a hero is someone who can hold out a minute longer than the rest.

That was clearly what La Rochelle had in mind when they famously defeated Leinster a fortnight ago to claim the European Champions Cup title.

Is that a template the Bulls might consider copying in Friday night's United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final against the Irish heavyweights in Dublin?

Not so fast, says Jake White.

"We have to start well," said the Bulls' director of rugby.

"When you look at Leinster, they generally they start their games like a house on fire. They make a point of scoring as much points as they can in the first 25 minutes. And then it becomes really tough to catch up."

White's sentiments are very much understandable.

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While the Bulls have made teeing off in the latter phases of matches a bit of a specialty in this URC (and Currie Cup) campaign, they are acutely aware of the mess they got themselves into in their season opener against Leinster last year, where they found themselves down 0-17 after just 12 minutes.

Their opponents would eventually gallop to a 31-3 win.

"La Rochelle did get it right by being able to stay in the game throughout and winning it at the end," said White.

"But generally, if you look at the sequences of games involving Leinster, if you look away to early and then look back, you're already 15 down. You're going to have to work very hard to get yourself back into contention."

One aspect of the Bulls' approach that does have their mentor excited is their success in knockout matches, even if its been confined to local tournaments.

"We've had to beat good sides - notably the Sharks - in