Passionate Jake White commendation reveals Bulls' URC buy-in
South African rugby is buying in, and Jake White's Bulls are all in.
After eschewing Super Rugby to switch hemispheres in 2021, the big four franchises are bringing the crowd with them.
The BKT United Rugby Championship is their direct replacement for Super Rugby, a tournament which the Pretorians won three times.
South African sides have made up five of the compeition's eight finalists in the last four seasons. This means something.
The URC is where "you're seeing the best players in the world" reckoned the always engaging 61-year-old when he addressed reporters at Croke Park yesterday ahead of Saturday's Grand Final against Leinster.
The Champions Cup? Well, that's nice too.
White's heartfelt and enthusiastic commendation contrasts with Leinster's laboured praise for their second-best friend.
Earlier this week, Dan Sheehan insisted there was "absolutely no way" Leinster would be beaten in the hunger stakes and players aren't really expected to say anything different.
"If you reach a final, everyone is desperate to win; let's be fair," said White, whose side finished the regular season in second place behind Leinster.
"No one sits in a final and says we are not desperate or as desperate as the other team... it would be naïve."
White is a World Cup-winning coach, with the Springboks in 2007, and has plied his trade in Australia, with the Brumbies, who he took to the Super Rugby final in 2013.
He spent three years in both France, with Montpellier, and Japan.
White has been around the world and his thoughts on the URC are worth reading, especially when asked to compare it to the Bulls' former home.
"Well, let me say this, one of the things which is interesting, and I've been around a long, long time, is that [the fans] didn't buy into Super Rugby when they joined it either," he said.
"They didn't understand it. They didn't know who the guys from Waikato were and the guys from Otago and then as time went on they got a better feel for how Super Rugby worked.
"And in the URC, I would still be honest and say they're still not sure how it all fits in because when we play Saracens they say 'is it a URC game?' and the same when we play Northampton.
"But I think, over time, they now realise it's actually a phenomenal tournament and you're seeing the best players in the world.
"I mean, it's no different from what happened when Super Rugby started to take off.
"They realised you could see Christian Cullen playing for the Hurricanes and you can see Jonah Lomu playing for Auckland."
Ahead of tomorrow's decider, White, whose side have lost two of the last three finals, said so great is "rugby fever" in the Rainbow Nation that they will receive support from erstwhile rivals.
"I mean let's be fair, we're playing Ireland tomorrow," he said.
"They just happen to have a different colour jersey on Saturday but we're playing Ireland and that's probably why South Africa have tuned in, because they know these players as Irish internationals.
"I've got some messages from back home, people are supporting the Bulls.
"People in Cape Town are supporting the Bulls. People in Durban are supporting the Bulls and think about it, that's like Munster supporting Leinster tomorrow against the Bulls.
"That's just what happens when rugby fever is high. But they've bought into it and it's no different from how it happened in Super Rugby."
White was also asked about lock Joe McCarthy's assertion last weekend that "everyone loves to hate Leinster".
Is that the same in South Africa?
"Nah, nah, everyone's in awe of Leinster," he said.
"Just read that team, from Andrew Porter, and go through the list. I mean, it just gets better as you're reading it, the team is full of stars.
"I think what, what [Joe McCarthy] says there, it's exactly what top players do say, is that they need to find a way to be better, and they need to find the 'why' of why they want to win.
"And what he was right [to say] 'they don't like us', doesn't matter, as long as we understand what we need to do.
"So, we're the same, we're not the most loved team in the world either.
"Let's be fair, the Bulls wouldn't win too many popularity awards if you went around either but it doesn't matter.
"The reality is we've got a job to do, as Leinster have got a job to do tomorrow, and it's got nothing to do with who likes who and who doesn't like who.
"Whoever plays well tomorrow and whoever takes their chances is going to win the game."
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