White will have a 'few tricks up his sleeve' for Leinster

SPOTLIGHT: Leinster are bracing themselves for a streetwise Bulls team in their United Rugby Championship semifinal in Dublin on Friday.

The Irish province made a massive statement with their 76-14 quarterfinal win over Glasgow.

It was a much tighter affair in Pretoria where the Bulls needed a last-gasp Chris Smith drop goal to seal a 30-27 victory over the Sharks

Leinster will be heading into Friday's semifinal as overwhelming favourites, but they are also wary of Jake White's influence on proceedings.

Leinster's boss Leo Cullen opened up on his counterpart and the impact he has had on his coaching career.

"I was coming to the end of my first year in coaching. He [White] gave me a fair bit of advice," Cullen told RTÉ.

"I went away to a Six Nations coaching conference, it would have been 2015. He was very, very helpful to me in terms of someone with bits of advice and understanding his philosophy on the game as well so we’ve come up against each other with Montpellier in Europe as well.

"He has plenty of experience of being here in the RDS [Arena], so he will know what’s involved. I’m sure he’ll have a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Just in terms of his vision as he laid out leading into that World Cup period, over that extended period before that and the belief he instilled, some of his philosophies about the game, how he approached the start of the game. It’s pretty vast in terms of what he was discussing.

"But he’s been good for the Bulls in terms of the experience he’s brought, the continuity, and stability around selection.

"He's doing it for the right reasons as well because he loves the involvement, I don't think he's doing it because he needs to, but because he loves the game.

"It's great to still have those experienced characters who are coaching in our league as well, because they bring a huge amount to it."

Cullen has singled out a few of the Bulls' stars that they will need to keep an eye on.

"The back row that they have; [Marcell] Coetzee, he was such a standout player for Ulster as well all know

"Look back at all his games he’s coming out with man of the match awards and big moments in games, he scores tries close in.

"He is physically very, very strong on both sides of the ball, so he’s one who is a very, very influential presence on their team.

"The halfbacks are good, a strong kicking game and they have a strong back three in terms of their kick, chase, aerially and from breaking ball as well, the speed and pace that they have.

"Harold Vorster in the midfield is a very, very strong and a direct player. he is probably one of the keys guys similar to Coetzee for them.

"They are sort of a complete team. They have a cohesive team as well, so they don’t change the team that much and Jake is a wily old coach, he's been around the block," Cullen added.

Source: Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)