Vodacom Bulls boss Jake White insists that the challenges of travelling to Europe at short notice undermines SA teams’ chances to be competitive in EPCR competitions.
The Pretoria outfit will face Northampton Saints in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup for the first time on Saturday at cinch Stadium in Franklin’s Gardens.
However, a Qatar Airways partnership to fly the SA franchises for EPCR matches has caused yet more logistical issues for the Bulls, with White’s charges set to travel in eight different groups on Tuesday evening to get to England for their last-eight clash.
White fired shots at SA Rugby over the problematic travel logistics following last week’s victory against Lyon in the round of 16 at Loftus Versfeld, and speaking in Pretoria mere hours before boarding a plane, White told reporters: “It’s not ideal. The reality is that we’re talking about a high-performance sport and being competitive.
“There aren’t a lot of teams that leave on eight different airlines on a Tuesday evening to play a Saturday night game.
“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.
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“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.
“But no sporting team today as I speak flies out with eight different aeroplanes, some to Birmingham, some to London. Some land at nine. Some land at two,” he added.
“You’re talking about a competition where you want to be the best in the world. It doesn’t add up. I’m not going to stop saying that. If we want to be the best, you have to get it right. I’m not going to stop saying that.”
“In an ideal world I would love to have left on Wednesday night and landed on Thursday. That would’ve meant we pre-prepped here Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.”
Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images
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