• Jake White, the Bulls director of rugby, plans a horses for courses approach for his exciting group of young centres.
• The former Bok coach notably let all of his senior centres leave for other opportunities, only recruiting one proven performer in Clinton Swart.
• White also says there's no real link between Gio Aplon and Percy Montgomery that suggests he favours left-footed fullbacks.

His clinical clean-out of his senior group of centres has left him a blank slate and Jake White intends to use it fully.

The Bulls' director of rugby, in his latest video on the franchise's app answering selected questions from fans, reiterated that horses for courses will be the policy - at least initially - when it comes to his exciting if rather unproved band of rookie midfielders.

Jesse Kriel, Burger Odendaal, Dylan Sage, Nafi Tuitavake, Dylan Sage and Franco Naude have all left Loftus in the last 10 months, with only former Cheetahs star Clinton Swart recruited in return.

Instead, the former World Cup-winning Springbok coach has decided to test the gifted group of Stedman Gans, Marnus Potgieter, Dawid Kellerman, Jay-Cee Nel, Wian van Niekerk and Diego Appollis. 

"I'd like to give you (names), but I think what I've seen since I've been here is that there are so many players that can play in different positions," said White.

"The most important thing is not so much who's going to play 13 (or 12), rather who's going to be the best backline combination."

The 56-year-old gave an interesting reminder of how dynamic a back division can be, pointing out that the Wallaby team of the early 2000s played four fullbacks in one combination.

"They played Mat Rogers, Matt Burke, Chris Latham and Stephen Larkham together at one stage," said White.

"I'd like to, when we get back to training, which we have now, try different combinations and not just find the best 13 (or 12) but the best combination that can gel as a unit."

The Bulls mentor also noted that there's no specific link involved in him picking a left-footed fullback in Gio Aplon as a backline anchor, much like it was with the legendary Percy Montgomery at the Boks.

"The reason for that is if you want to kick the ball out of your half, you need a left-right option," said White, who has three No 10s in Swart, Morne Steyn and Chris Smith who kick with their right foot.

"If you look at the 1995 Springboks, they had Andre Joubert who was a left-footed fullback and Joel Stransky a right-footed flyhalf. Elton Jantjies plays at the Lions as a left-footed flyhalf but they (previously) picked a right-footed fullback (or wing in Ruan Combrinck or Jaco van der Walt)

"It's not that I need a left-footed fullback, it's just that in your backline you need a left-footed option. Generally it's worked for me at fullback."

- Compiled by Heinz Schenk