Bulls boss Jake White heaps praise on David Kriel ahead of URC final

The 26-year-old has been a consistent performer for the Bulls, particularly since the South African teams joined the United Rugby Championship.

When Kriel first broke through into the Pretoria-based side's senior team, he mostly played as an outside back, but he has featured more regularly in the midfield recently.

His versatility and consistency in performance has seen him rack up massive minutes for the Bulls over the past four seasons, with White guessing that no other player has played more for the franchise in that period. This season, he has racked up 18 appearances in the URC, missing just two fixtures.

Still, his exploits with the men from Pretoria have not been rewarded with a call-up to the Springboks squad, which White predicts will change eventually.

"I am really surprised that he's never picked up by people on how important he is [for us]," the Bulls boss told reporters ahead of the URC final against Leinster.

"He was a fullback as a youngster, he's played wing, 12 and 13, kicked winning penalties for us against Leinster and Benetton this year.

"He's one guy who's been with us since day one, from when we started the campaign [joined the URC], I'm almost sure in saying that he has played the most minutes for our team in the last four years.

"It is incredible that he hasn't been tapped on the shoulder either for national duty, which I'm sure will come, or people in and around the game don't see the importance he has to us."

White also revealed that the Bulls' first meeting with Leinster during their inaugural URC season provided him with inspiration to move Kriel around the backline. This was after the Bulls boss saw the likes of Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw and Ciaran Frawley in action, with Kriel having a similar body type.

This also led the experienced coach to liken Kriel to former Bok captain De Villiers, who also started his career out on the wing before becoming a Test centurion and comfortably one of the best inside centres to wear the Green and Gold jersey.

"When we played Leinster the very first time at the Aviva Stadium, we lost 31-3 it was the opening game of the tournament, but I remember standing and watching Henshaw, Ringrose and Frawley warm-up and I thought the only guy that I know that is similar to these three is David Kriel," White explained.

"And at that stage, he was playing wing and I decided that I'm going to move him closer to the ball and it was based on that opening game. When I saw that body shape and the skill-sets of what Leinster had, he was the closest that I could get and I'm so glad I did that because there's no doubt, we've seen the value of what he is like."

Asked about Kriel's strengths in particular, White added: "He is quick enough to be an outside back, so it makes him dangerous inside and he's got an incredible passing skill-set.

"Defensively, he understands defence, he is a bit like Jean de Villiers to me in that he understands how you want to attack and therefore he can read the defence.

"Often people talk about someone being a very good tackler - I'm not saying he is not a good tackler - but people assume defence means tackling but the one thing he does really well is understand what the opposition wants to attacking-wise. His defensive understanding is up there with Jean de Villiers, they know the way you stand and who the danger men are in your setup and he'll actually read it before you can enact the play."

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