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“Pretoria, please come and help us” – Jake White

The Bulls' coach and director of rugby, Jake White, called on supporters of this team to fill Loftus Versfeld's pavilions on Saturday to serve as extra motivation for the team when they face the mighty Leinster of Ireland in the URC semi-final.

June 11, 2024
Pretoria Rekord 2 minutes read
The Bulls beat Benetton from Italy this past weekend at Loftus Versfeld in a tough quarter-final in the United Rugby Championship tournament to qualify for the semi-final against Leinster from Ireland. Here Dawid Kriel scores one of the team's tries against the Italians. Photo: simondp@actionimage

“We are going to need everybody here, we need 52 000 people here like we did against the Stormers,” said Bulls mentor and director of rugby, Jake White on Saturday after his team beat Benetton from Italy in die United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter final.

White called on the city and province to get behind his team ahead of the semi-finals of the URC. The Bulls will take on Irish giants, Leinster on Saturday. Kick-off time is at 16:00.

“There is no use in having a home game and not using that as an advantage. So, my plea to the public is that we need them. We need for whoever comes here to feel as though the Loftus faithful are in full cry,” White remarked.

Jake White, coach of the Bulls, called on the team’s supporters to pack Loftus Versveld on Satedag and serve as an ally for the team when they play against Leinster of Ireland in the URC semi-final.
Photo: Supplied

He said the economic reality of the support base is not lost to everyone at Loftus.

“People are struggling and it is the middle of the month. The average local does not have the income to visit the stadium for quarterfinals, semi-finals and the Ireland test match on 06 July. The average family cannot afford to watch four games of rugby in a month with two kids in the family. But hopefully we will be able to get in a few more people this coming weekend than on Saturday against Benetton, when 19 243 showed up at Loftus,” White commented.

He has also extended an invite to Bulls supporters form neighbouring cities to travel down the N1 or N3 for the big clash.

“I am hoping that even those who live in Joburg and the East Rand will travel down the highway to come and watch a great game,” he said.

The two sides have already established a fierce rivalry in the short history of the URC and White said those lessons are not lost to his side.

“The one positive thing is they beat us 31-3 in the first round of our first year and we went on to beat them in the semi-finals at Leinster. So, it is not something that hasn’t been done by our group and the beauty of knockout rugby is anything is possible and anything can happen. If we can get a good start like we did in the quarterfinals, then they will be under pressure,” he concluded.

Tickets are available from Ticketpro and the cheapest tickets are as low as R50 each.

 

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June 11, 2024
Pretoria Rekord 2 minutes read

Koos Venter

Koos Venter is an experienced journalist who started his career 35 years ago, before the days of cellphones, modern computer systems, the internet and digital cameras, as a correspondent for Nexus, the former national magazine of the Department of Correctional Services. He has since worked for various other publications in all aspects of news coverage, as a columnist and in the production side of newspapers and online publications. Since 2007 he has specialized as a sports writer, while he is also regularly used as an analyst and commentator by several radio stations.
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