White full of praise for Goosen after Cardiff masterclass

Bulls director of rugby Jake White hailed the performance of flyhalf Johan Goosen in his team's 45-9 victory over Cardiff at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Goosen delivered a fine all-round performance, with his distribution and running skills particularly impressive, and he eventually finished with a 16-point contribution courtesy of a try, four conversions and a penalty.

Despite a plethora of injuries, Springbok bosses Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber have made no secret that the 30-year-old is someone who they rate highly and he was called up to a Bok training squad earlier this year, before representing the South African â˜A' side in last month's matches against Munster and Bristol Bears.

White was obviously pleased when speaking after his side's one-sided win over Cardiff but singled out Goosen for special praise.

"In the beginning, we couldn't get rhythm, and we got a lot of slow ball. Every time we got through a couple of phases, it was like we couldn't run onto the ball," he said.

"And then as soon as we did and Goosen could run onto it, and he could open up holes, we either scored or put people away.

"It's going to get better and better."

White believes the secret to Goosen's success is getting to play more regularly and feels he can still reach great heights in the game.

"The more he plays and the more they get to play around him, the better," he said. "I'm really excited because we're not even halfway through the competition, and we're scoring lots of tries, and we look dangerous every time our backs get the ball.

"Goosen probably hasn't been given as many opportunities as I would have liked at No 10, because he hasn't been able to train there for long periods of time.

"He was injured, he came back, and we used him as a fullback because the team needed him more in that position, especially when we lost our Springboks.

"He needs to get game time at number 10, and if that's the type of game he's going to play after a limited time of running in the No 10 jersey, then we're obviously very excited about where this can go.

"I know it and everyone knows it; he's a talented player, and I can't believe he hasn't played 50 Tests for South Africa. It is what it is, and we have to get him back into the saddle now so he plays as many games as he can."

The Bulls were superb on attack as they outscored their Welsh visitors by six tries to none, with official man of the match Canan Moodie rewarded with a brace of tries and he proved dangerous on attack in tandem with Kurt-Lee Arendse, who also crossed the whitewash.

"Every time they kick the ball and Canan, or Kurt-Lee catches it, you can just sense it, and even the crowd feels that something is going to happen," added White.

"When you combine that with guys like Cornal [Hendricks], Lionel [Mapoe], Harold [Vorster] and Johan Goosen when he's on song like he was tonight, it's fantastic."