Bulls star Hanekom must find a way to play with two players on him, says Jake ahead of Munster URC clash

Just before halftime against Edinburgh, star Bulls No 8 Cameron Hanekom called for the ball from scrumhalf Zak Burger.

The Pretoria side were desperate to score some points before the break as they were down 24-7 in the Challenge Cup quarter-final.

Bulls fans would’ve hoped that Hanekom would buzz with ball-in-hand at Hive Stadium, but his carry from Burger’s pass was without his usual energy and conviction.

He ran rather gingerly into space between Edinburgh centres Matt Currie and James Lang, and was tackled quite easily by the latter before placing the ball back.

There was nothing really wrong with that, except that it was Hanekom – the man being touted as an ideal replacement for the injured Jasper Wiese in the Springbok team for the July Tests against Italy and Georgia.

The 22-year-old loose forward is normally the man who gets the Bulls over the advantage line with his lightning pace and fearless approach.

But that somewhat tame carry said everything about the way in which he was largely kept quiet by the streetwise Edinburgh pack, who sometimes double-teamed to tackle him, and cleaned him out with ferocity at the breakdowns.

Hanekom nearly got a ruck turnover in the 21st minute, and did well with his leg-drive in a carry a few minutes later.

But things just didn’t go his way in the first half especially on attack and in the tight-loose defensively.

He became alive in the second half and scored a try as the Bulls bench made a huge impact to nearly help pull off a miracle, but Edinburgh held on a 34-28 victory.

Bulls coach Jake White had said on the Friday before the game that he was hoping for an “80-minute performance” from Hanekom, who has been battling with a few injuries since the February game against the Stormers.

White said that for a young man like Hanekom, “playing at this level against internationals every week takes a real bashing on your body”, adding that “the way he plays, it’s an obvious thing that he’s going to get banged, bumped and bruised, and going to pick up all these little (knocks).

“As his body gets stronger and tougher, and he’s used to the collisions, he’ll improve”.

Asked after the Edinburgh game about how Hanekom was targeted by Edinburgh and battled to break free, White sympathised with the Paarl-born loose forward, but felt that he has the ability to deal with the extra attention in future.

The Bulls are gearing up for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash against Munster in Limerick (6.15pm start), and Hanekom will be going all out to remind Bok coach Rassie Erasmus of his abilities.

“He tried everything, was running as hard as he could, and the only plan I have is age. It’s going to come with time. That’s what happens to all players...” White said about Hanekom.

“It happened to Canan Moodie when he arrived. No one knew who he was, and soon as they did, they marked him.

“The best players in the world get marked, and the way they grow is to find a way where they can play even when people start putting two or three players on him.

“And, you know, I think he got better and better as the game went on. But it is an international team. I’ll say it again. They’ve just come out of Six Nations. It’s now April. They played Six Nations February, March.

“It means they’ve been playing at the highest level they can in the last two months.

“And they’ve obviously brought that intensity, that understanding and that cohesion that they’ve had with the Scottish team into their campaign now for the EPCR.

“So, I know I say it to you, but it’ll come with time. I mean, it’s not something that you can... You can’t fast-forward that.

“He’ll get better, he’ll get stronger, he’ll understand.

“He’s got to find a way in which he can counter the fact that people will start putting people on him to make sure they put him under pressure.

“So, that is no different to any young player who comes through the ranks.”

While they missed out on the Challenge Cup trophy, the Bulls are well on course for a home quarter-final in the URC, where they are third on the log with 50 points – four behind second-placed Glasgow (who they face next week Friday), with leaders Leinster on 62.

But they need to fine-tune their lineout and defence after a number of lost set-pieces and missed tackles against Edinburgh.

“Opposition – it’s as simple as that. They all play for Scotland, and we just weren’t accurate,” White said about the lineouts.

“Sometimes, that happens. They put pressure on us there and we didn’t execute. Very first lineout, we knocked it on.

“Second lineout, we chucked it in and double-banked. Third lineout, we got held up in the air...

“It’s quality of the opposition, quality of the analysis, and we probably didn’t adapt quick enough in the first half to understand what was happening.

“We can take it as a positive criticism: good teams find a way in the first 40 minutes to find ways to adapt to the way things are unfolding – and it took us 50 minutes.

“And that unfortunately is one of the differences between teams that end up winning big competitions, and teams who are there and thereabouts.

“So, had we adapted in the first 20 minutes like we did in the last 30 minutes, I’m sure we would’ve seen a completely different shape.

“As I said, we just ran out of time.”