Jake White: ‘It doesn’t get any bigger than this’

Jak White believes that the Bulls sold-out derby match against the Stormers will be a huge moment for the players.

He feels that the occassion is up there with a Rugby World Cup final.

Jake White heralds huge match

Tickets for the encounter are sold out and the atmosphere will be unrivalled.

“I am excited for tomorrow, it’s going to be nice for the guys,” Jake White said. 

“It is nice for them to play in front of a big crowd, baying for the franchise like in the past. I am glad they can be a part of that because I hope that will be the catalyst for us to kick on for the next couple of seasons,”

“It doesn’t get any bigger than this, besides a World Cup final, for a pool game it probably doesn’t get any bigger than this.

“Not many provincial players will have played in front of 51 000 people, besides the World Cup winners; there aren’t many provincial players who will have played in front of a big crowd like what is expected and that in itself comes with a challenge for the young guys who have not done that before and we must help them with that.”

Strong Bulls side

White believes that the Bulls come into the clash in a position of strength but need to stand up at the business end of the tournament.

“The match is not make or break but a marker of where we are and what is working and what is not working, and we have a lot of things working for us. Where we were then and where we are now is chalk and cheese,” Jake White added.

“Tomorrow for me, is irrelevant to what has happened before because our growth process is coming together. The calibre of players we have brought in, Akker, Willie, Nizaam and Devon have brought us experience and our combinations are coming together well.”

The Springboks on the Bulls bench thrill White.

“The reality is you never have the full 23 that you want, some week you think you will have a particular player and they get injured and that changes the whole dynamic and for this clash, we have five changes compared to the last time we played them, I’d like to think that will make a difference,” he said.

“It could be tight at the end and if you look at the past games, there haven’t been blowouts against us in the last couple of years, it has always been close encounters. So to have the experience of Springbok players coming on from the bench is going to be vital for us.”