JAKE'S BLUES: The flyhalf conundrum continues to haunt Bulls

Perhaps the biggest missing piece in the puzzle at the Vodacom Bulls is nowhere near the pack - even though there are a number of injuries - but rather at the crucial 10 position, where they lack a game-winner in all conditions.

It is no secret that while the Bulls have built up a top class pack that can scrum and maul any side into submission, and Embrose Papier has built up his reputation as a nine that can snipe and keep opposition defences guessing, ten is the number that most troubles the Pretoria side week in and out.

White had settled on Johan Goosen to guide the side since his return from France, but Goosen remains increasingly injury prone and suffers from bouts of disinterest - where he clearly is not enjoying the game, but still is one of the most successful goalkickers in Vodacom United Rugby Championship history.

But Goosen is not the type of 10 that takes the ball comfortably up and tests the opposition defence. If anything, he looks awkward and fallible, and is more comfortable using his boot to dictate.

BULLS WANT TO PLAY EXPANSIVE RUGBY

That, in a way, has been a bit at odds with the way that Jake White wants his side to play, although at this moment Goosen remains the best option for the team. Problem is, he missed the first five games with injury and is now out for a number of weeks again with a knee injury.

White has since relied mostly on Boeta Chamberlain, who has yoyo’d in terms of confidence since coming up from the Sharks and hasn’t quite found his comfort zone either. Chamberlain - like Goosen - shows flashes of brilliance at times, and then finds simple errors on the field that often take away his confidence.

White has resorted more to Willie le Roux in the past few games at 10, hoping to unlock Le Roux’s creativity for the backline more than anything else. Against the Lions Le Roux’s cameo off the bench was superb, and helped turn the game in the Bulls favour when they were struggling.

Against the Stormers he had good moments, but at least once called for the ball, then changed his mind and left Papier to pass into a void of space where Le Roux was supposed to be.

White has spoken openly about this, especially about Le Roux finding his feet at 10 again - the last time (and very limited considering his career at fullback) he played at 10 was in Japan before joining the Bulls.

Outside the current squad, former Scottish international Jaco van der Walt has had very little game time to talk about, being injured and in and out of the squad, and the only other 10 that has been tried - abeit for a few minutes - is halfback Keegan Johannes.

LE ROUX HASN’T PLAYED LOTS AT 10

While Le Roux is comfortable popping into the 10 position on attack and directing the flow of play, it’s quite a difference to start at 10, with opposition targeting you.

The Sharks certainly did that this past weekend and the Bulls attack stuttered. And with Le Roux at 10, it places more pressure on David Kriel to step up as a makeshift kicker. Against the Lions it worked, but Kriel missed crucial kicks against the Stormers and Sharks, understandable as he isn’t the first choice kicker.

The other part where it makes a clear difference is the decision to either go for posts or for the sideline to set up a maul. The Bulls felt they were hampered in their choices this last weekend against the Sharks because of what they had in their arsenal.

TOUGH DECISIONS

White spoke about his decision on the 10s during the Sharks game and why he felt he should have kept Le Roux on despite a potential groin injury. The Bulls attack stuttered after he left.

“We don’t want to be known as a team that can just maul and scrum. That’s probably why I’m frustrated: because we didn’t look like a team, even against 12 or 13 players, that had enough variation,” White said.

“Maybe we just got sucked into thinking that every maul, scrum and lineout was going to get us a win.

“The reason why I took him (Le Roux) off was because he was saying to the doc that his groin is very stiff.

“Again – my call – I just thought that we had enough forward dominance, and I had a 10 (Boeta Chamberlain) who could go to 10. In hindsight, I should’ve left him there, and try to bite through this one.

“But how would I have known? So, put Boeta at 10, he’s a goal-kicker.Who knows ? Maybe we win the game because he kicks a conversion and it’s a masterstroke?

“But as it worked out, I couldn’t afford for Willie to say after the game that he is out for two to three weeks with a groin, as it’s a luxury we can’t afford at the moment, with other guys out.”

White indicated the law of unintended consequences was at play with Le Roux, who normally doesn’t do much kicking at poles.

“The reason I mention his groin is he's probably kicked more this week at poles thinking that he was going to be the goal kicker than he has ever been before,” White explained.

“So,who would have thought that if he's kicking and kicking and kicking for Poles after what happened last week then he said his groin is tight? And I don't think it's injured. It was just a risk.

“I didn't want to take a risk. And I genuinely thought that the forwards were going to be strong enough and a 10, that is a 10, would come on and we would be able to manage the game the way we did and we didn't. So now we're going to have to find a way in which we regroup.”

NEED A TOP INTERNATIONAL 10

While White will do his best to plug the holes the team currently has, there is a growing sense that the Bulls need an international class 10 that can both run at the opposition, get his backline going and control a game with the boot.

Those players are few and far between in world rugby at the moment, and there aren’t many on the market the Bulls can go fetch at the moment either. The last time they had a flyhalf that could tick all three boxes was probably Bok 10 Handre Pollard.

So for now its about plugging holes and getting the best out of the players he has. Saturday’s loss to the Sharks gave the Bulls much food for thought. But long term, they may be realising they need a top 10 if they are to go up that level that they strive to climb.

And that may be a lot harder than winning the next game.