B-team in Northampton? That's Bull(s), says Jake White: 'This is our best team'

The colossal 14 changes the Bulls have made to their starting XV for Saturday's Champions Cup quarter-final meeting with Northampton is - whether more sceptical observers will believe it or not - Jake White heeding lessons from last season's unfulfilling campaign.

The franchise's director of rugby has at various junctures over the past few months reiterated that part of 2022/23's failings (his own serious illness and the Sbu Nkosi drama as contributing factors aside) was that he didn't use his squad system more liberally.

Naturally, in these days of managing resources to compete on different fronts, there's a suspicion that the Bulls are casting a bigger eye towards next week's crunch United Rugby Championship (URC) clash with Munster at Loftus, though the party line in response to that was an emphatic denial.