Jake White’s Rallying Cry: Bring Our Stars Home!

Bulls head coach Jake White has expressed his frustrations over the South African stars playing for overseas clubs, highlighting Leinster’s RG Snyman as a prime example of a player who should be representing his home country. White remarked on RG, the two-time World Cup-winning lock, questioning why he is not playing for the Bulls.

These remarks came after the Bulls emerged victorious against the Leinster team with a narrow win of 21-20 in a United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld last weekend. This abruptly brought to an end the Leinster’s undefeated start to the season. However, despite the win against Leinster, White expressed the challenge they are facing of retaining players in the South African team, as financial and contractual constraints often see them sign for clubs abroad.

While the Bulls had a majority of its key players available, the team was also missing several important names due to injury, including Johan Goosen, Elrigh Louw, and Ruan Nortje.

The Bulls have enjoyed a strong win in the URC season with 9 wins from 13 matches, two of their defeats have come at home. Despite this, White remains concerned about the Bulls' future. He stressed that bringing back players like RG could change the team’s fortune. He pointed out that their home record is not something that can be easily fixed, adding that with RG and other players who deserve to be in South Africa, their home results would likely improve due to enhanced strength and depth in the squad.

The discussion regarding player retention in South African rugby rages on, with White making it clear that keeping stars like Snyman at home could change everything.