Although Jake While was pleased with the Vodacom Bulls' 28-14 win over Connacht in tough Galway conditions, he was visibly upset with the red card shown to Celimpilo Gumede for an alleged dangerous contact with an opponent’s eyes.
“The nose is nowhere near the eye and I will say on record that I heard the TMO say there is no clear evidence that it is in the eye, it is just to the face."
“So that is probably what will come out because it is irrelevant. He was held behind the ruck, and the TMO’s voice was that it should’ve been a penalty for lifting his leg and holding him behind the ruck."
“I must say I thought their red card was a bit harsh, to be fair, but we’ve got to adapt."
"If the communique comes out ahead of the November Tests and says this is what they are looking for, we have to be clever enough to understand there will always be a focus on that kind of incident."
“And it will always be in favour of making sure the players’ welfare comes first,” White said.
White praised the Bulls’ first-half dominance, where they led 14-0 despite playing into a stiff wind.
“We won the toss and wanted to play with the wind in the second half because I’ve been here before and I know how difficult it is."
“It’s a tough place to play. It’s a bit like a cricket Test match. You’ve got to set yourself up the way you want to play based on the elements that are there."
“So I am just really chuffed that we learned from all the times we’ve been here and they learned from the messages we gave them over the last weeks about what to expect."
“We had a lot of opportunities in the first half, and that was into a wind that was very, very strong."
“So to have all that territory, possession and opportunities that we had in the first half, and the way we managed the game, makes me very happy. It sets us up nicely for the next couple of weeks.”
“I’m very happy, especially the first half. We had 12 lineouts and lost one, and that’s considering we’ve got no Reinhardt Ludwig and Ruan Nortje,” he said.
“Got a bit sloppy in the end but I guess that’s what happens, a little bit of fatigue and a little bit of experience to understand that we needed to change things up a bit."
“A guy like JF van Heerden is relatively young still in terms of calling lineouts; he’ll have to learn from that performance.”