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Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White has expressed his happiness after his team claimed the Super Rugby Unlocked title on Saturday. DYLAN JACK reports.
The Bulls sealed their first trophy with White after beating the Pumas in a close game at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon.
It was just a reward for the Bulls, given the amount of hard work that has gone into behind the scenes in Pretoria since their frankly embarrassing 2020 Super Rugby season in March, when the team was only able to win one of its six pre-game matches. the season was stopped by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since then, the Bulls have undergone a revolution, bringing in a host of new players and coaches, including White, who was endorsed as the franchise’s head coach and director of rugby to make the necessary changes to get the team back on track. .
Speaking to the media after his victory over the Pumas, White said he was delighted that they had managed to claim a title.
‘It’s fantastic. Like I said, not just for me, but for the union, ” White said. “This union has not won any senior trophies for over 10 years, even though we have won many junior trophies.
“As you can imagine, there is a lot of excitement now, a lot of relief also on the basis that we have the first round done and dusted off. We are very, very happy to be able to make Bulls fans proud again. ”
While other franchises are considering the national season, made up of Super Rugby Unlocked and the Currie Cup as a whole, White said his team had decided to bet firmly on Super Rugby before switching to the Currie Cup.
We talk about it. This year there is a chance to win two trophies. I spoke to the media the other day and said that all teams knew there was a chance to win two trophies. Everyone knew at the beginning of the competition that at the end of the first round there is a trophy to be won.
“We were fully aware of the fact that if we win this trophy, the Bulls will be the only South African franchise to have won Super Rugby. We did not want to allow another team from the country to win Super Rugby. I am also fully aware that it is not full-fledged Super Rugby, but the point is, if it goes back to where we were six or seven months ago, I don’t think anyone would have given us a chance to win this trophy.
“There is an enormous amount of happiness, relief and confidence that we get from winning this. Many of these guys have waited a long time. Winning creates a habit. Now we know the feeling and hopefully when we get back to training on Monday we can go to the second round, which is another chance. ”
White added that he also felt satisfied guiding the Bulls to the title.
‘I signed up for this franchise on the basis that they are a sleeping giant. This is one of the best franchises in the world. This is Liverpool or Manchester United of rugby. If you look at teams around the world, the Bulls would be up there. At the end of the day, if you went to one of the six or seven best rugby clubs in the world, this would be one of them.
‘This was one of the reasons I came here, I wanted this union to win some cutlery. I don’t take away anything that we’ve done in the past, but even the guys who played in those glory years would be very happy to see that there is at least one young group of players who are winning something. ”
Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images
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