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'I’m envious, really envious. Because if you are going to fight fire with fire, and if you want to go to a gunfight, you cannot go with a knife.'
Bulls boss Jake White. Picture: Seb Daly/Gallo Images
Following his side’s one-sided defeat to Leinster in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final, Bulls director of rugby Jake White again argued that South African teams cannot compete with Europe’s best when they’re in form – unless they have access to the country’s top players.
The Bulls were by far the weaker side in the final in Dublin despite having a great season, making history on an overseas tour and finishing second on the URC log with a Bulls-best 68 points. They were on an eight-game winning streak in the URC before the final.
Still, they were utterly dominated in the match, losing four tries to one (final score 32–7). “We were trying. It wasn’t like we weren’t trying,” White said afterwards, adding it was the toughest of the three finals they have been in since South African clubs joined the URC in 2021/22.
Going to a gunfight with a knife
“It was like watching a horror movie – you think the ending is going to be different. I’ve coached the Brumbies to beat the British & Irish Lions. The way you do that is you actually need the big sides to play badly. Dreamers are the guys that think that you take youngsters and you just wave a wand and you beat international players.”
The Bulls coach said that when in form, Leinster, who are full of Irish internationals and British & Irish Lions players plus South African double World Cup winner RG Snyman (URC’s Player’s Player of the Season), New Zealand star Jordie Barrett and French international Rabah Slimani, could only be beaten by an equally seasoned international team.
This is a problem when so many Springboks are plying their trade overseas instead of local clubs.
“Even though it’s straight after a game, the lesson I’ve taken from that is the one I’ve been telling you: we need more international players to play in our province. I need what Leinster have. I need to be able to fight fire with fire.
“I’m envious, really envious. Because if you are going to fight fire with fire, and if you want to go to a gunfight, you cannot go with a knife.”
White said people were living in a dream world if they thought a club comprised mostly of academy players could match up against a team that was essentially as strong as Ireland.
Springboks and fringe internationals ply their trade overseas
Aside from Leinster’s Snyman, other Springboks playing overseas include Cheslin Kolbe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Damian de Allende, Lood de Jager, Faf de Klerk, Jean Kleyn, Jasper Wiese, Jesse Kriel, Malcolm Marx, Franco Mostert, Cobus Reinach and Kwagga Smith.
There are also players included in the latest Springbok alignment camps and training squads, such as Marnus van der Merwe, Jean-Luc du Preez, Thomas du Toit, Boan Venter and Juarno Augustus.
Handré Pollard is currently at Leicester Tigers but will be returning to his former club, the Bulls, for a two-year deal from July. Kurt-Lee Arendse will also return from a sabbatical in Japan.
