England rugby star dishes out cheap shot to South Africa, Bulls

Prior to this past weekend’s quarter-final round of action in the Champions Cup, South Africa’s leading local franchise the Bulls were embroiled in an unexpected saga, which was at least partially fuelled by coach Jake White.

Before the Bulls left for England to face the Northampton Saints, White slammed SA Rugby bosses over what he said was a lack of clarity and planning when it came to travel arrangements.

“There aren’t a lot of teams that leave on eight different airlines on a Tuesday evening to play a Saturday night game,” he was quoted as saying. “For whatever reason, I’m sure the powers that be will sort it out. It isn’t what was expected. We were sold that it’s an overnight flight to Europe to go play there in the beginning.

“Instead, it recently took 28 hours and 27 hours to and back from Leinster and whether we like it or not, it comes at a cost. Our [Bulls] board have paid for business-class flights for our starting teams previously, and it’s a massive privilege and fantastic gesture on their behalf.”

However, SA Rugby ultimately responded with a statement highlighting how over R4 million had been spent in an attempt to get the Bulls overseas in the best way possible.

Whatever the case may be, all that pre-match talk was clearly seen as a distraction tactic by Northampton Saints forward Courtney Lawes, who suggested the well-documented flight problems were an exaggeration.

“It’s a very South African thing to do, with the whole carnival around it,” Lawes told former rugby player Jim Hamilton on the Rugby Pod. “Putting things out in the press that there are eight different flights, but I can guarantee you that it wasn’t eight different flights.

“The players got there at pretty much the same time, with the staff coming in at different times, but a lot of things were exaggerated. It was a great way of taking pressure off themselves, disrupting us, and getting us thinking about different things.”

Lawes went on to question the Bulls’ selection

“I was pretty disappointed they didn’t put their best team out,” Lawes added.

“I always want to play against the best team because it prepares you best for a team like Leinster.

The selection was at least partially a strategic move as Bulls coach Jake White opted against exposing certain players to an arduous travel schedule to face the Northampton Saints.

After an investigation from the European Professional Club Rugby to assess if the Bulls were in breach of the participation agreement, it was ultimately reported that the EPCR had not laid the blame at the door of the South African side. Instead, a need for a change to next season’s knockout schedule was recommended to avoid a repeat of the Bulls selection controversy.

WHITE INSISTED IT WAS NEVER ABOUT DISRESPECTING THE CHAMPIONS CUP

After the game that the Bulls lost heavily, White sought to set the record straight.

“I’ve got to stress, because I think people are reading it completely wrong that I’m not whinging about being here, in fact I’m loving this competition. I’m loving the fact that we get exposed to this and I’m loving that these players can learn what they learned tonight,” White explained when asked about the supposed “disrespect”,” he told reporters.

“It is so close to test rugby. I mean maybe the style varies a little bit, being less conservative and pragmatic compared to test rugby but the intensity is there and is the fight to win. So I want to be clear that we want to be here in this competition.

“We want to win and be that powerful side that can run out every weekend and be competitive, but you need to serve your time. It’s the second year we’ve been playing in this competition. For some guys, it’s the first time they ever flew business class. For others, it’s the first time they’ve ever come overseas, so when you put that in perspective, it demonstrates we still have a way to go.”