Bulls boss bemoans arduous travel itinerary following close call with Bordeaux

Bulls boss bemoans arduous travel itinerary following close call with Bordeaux

Bulls head coach Jake White suggested that a hectic travel schedule impacted their second-half performance against Bordeaux in the Champions Cup clash on Saturday.

The Pretoria franchise held on to a narrow 46-40 victory in a sizzling Champions Cup encounter at Loftus Versveld on Saturday. The Bulls led 33-14 early in the second stanza before a Bordeaux side stacked with talent mounted what was almost an incredible comeback.

It was the Bulls' second Champions Cup clash in as many weeks after travelling to Bristol last week. Speaking to Rugby365 after Saturday's win over Bordeaux, White pointed to the travel.

"I'd like to believe it's due to the travelling," he said of the Bulls.

"Coming back from Bristol, getting here on Monday, having flown via Dubai. It's quite bizarre, because we fly London, Dubai, Dubai, Joburg.

"The team we play against flies from Paris to Joburg. So it's quite weird you know. We end up playing against the same team. But we™ll get there. I don't want to sound like I am moaning and whinging.

"We are very lucky, our owners pay for business class for our players so we are even better off than the other teams. But there is no doubt that if we can go via London, straight from London to Bristol, London and straight onto Joburg, we would've got here earlier Monday morning.

"By the time we got to Loftus on Monday, it was after two in the afternoon. Considering you play Saturday night and you only get home on Monday after lunch, it's a long haul.

"It's been a bit of a slog, back and forth. We really looked flat today. I don't know why but we looked flat. We didn't get to the breakdowns, we turned the ball over a few times. We just looked like we were dead on our feet.

"I know they were too, but you talk about altitude and speed and pace and tempo of the game, we looked as though sometimes we were one or two yards behind the ball as well."

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