Jake White defends Bulls season with only Currie Cup to play for

By Kate Nokwe
12th May 2023

Despite crashing out of both the Champions Cup and the United Rugby Championship, Bulls director of rugby Jake White believes the Bulls' 2023 season is not a complete failure.

After reaching the last 16 of the Champions Cup and the URC quarterfinals - a regress from thier impressive finalist finish a year before - the union's only remaining hope for silverware is the Currie Cup.

However, White maintains their success in 2023 cannot be assessed solely by their progress in European events.

"It wasn't all bad because, I mean, no one got through the play-offs of the Champions Cup. If our season has been poor and we ended up sixth in the URC, qualified for Champions Cup, well then we're in a position of massive strength and we're going to become a powerhouse team," said White.

"Because in a bad, to come... You know, I listened to an interview of a basketball player who actually asked the journalist, 'How many top columns have you written in the last couple of weeks? How many promotions have you got in the last couple of years?

"So, that means every year has been a failure [for the journalist]. So, I don't think we've done as well as we could have, [but] I don't think it's a failure."

While certain regions of South Africa have lost interest in the world's oldest domestic rugby competition in favour of European competitions, White claims, to the Bulls, the Currie Cup is just as valuable.

As a result, winning it will not be a consolation award for the tournaments in which they are no longer competing.

"Anyone who knows that, since I've been at the Bulls, we take the Currie Cup very seriously. We were the only team last year that played our strongest side in the whole of the Currie Cup," he defended.

"So, that means our Union and myself take the Currie Cup very, very seriously, and that's not going to change. The fact that we had a poor start doesn't mean now we just give up and we write this season off.

"While there's still an opportunity for us to win games and get into the play-offs, we've got to play as well as we can, and if it means we get into the play-offs then yes, we have as much chance as all the other teams to win the competition."