‘He looked like a Bok again,’ says Bulls coach Jake White on Sbu Nkosi’s return

Springbok winger Sbu Nkosi's notable return to competitive rugby impressed Bulls coach Jake White even though the Pretoria team lost their United Rugby Championship (URC) match at Loftus on Saturday 23-19 against the Stormers.

The Bulls lost their fifth consecutive match to the Stormers in the competition. Nkosi, who was making comeback after three months out of the game to deal with mental health issues, scored their only try of the match.

White spoke highly of the good shift that put in by Nkosi in front of the more than 40,000 spectators who  packed the venue to witness the enduring south vs north derby.

“Sometimes we take it for granted that a young boy can go through a difficult time — I thought he played well,” White said after the match.

“His work rate was good, he ran hard, he didn’t look like he has been out of rugby for three months. I am really proud he can play like that. He will get better now he has got a taste of it again.

“He basically broke every tackle when he carried the ball and he looked like a Springbok again. It is always nice when you have that kind of player in your squad.”

White hit back at those who criticised his decision to throw Nkosi into the starting XV less than two weeks since he returned to full contact training at Loftus.

“I am a dad of boys who are 31 and 27 of age, and he didn’t need to be punished. I hear people questioning why we are playing him — you don’t get punished because you went away to sort yourself out.

“He is a Springbok, he is a World Cup-winner, he wants to play rugby and he gets picked to play rugby. I am not going to punish him now because he was going through a difficult time.

“So, I complement [Bulls CEO] Edgar Rathbone and the Bulls for the way they handled it and I complement the way Sbu came back. He had to prove to his teammates he really wanted to play rugby again.

“As a dad, I am proud of the guy. It must have been difficult for him, he came back after not having touched a rugby ball in three months to play in front of more than 40,000 people.

“It is a great message for rugby and a great message for the Bulls too. What Edgar did and the way we helped him, the sort of response we got — that’s a feel-good story.

“I would have liked for him to have scored another try and won us the game, it would have been a great story, but we can be really proud of the way he has come through. We just have to make sure we help him consistently.”