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In the immediate aftermath of his side advancing into its first ever Champions Cup quarterfinal, Bulls director of rugby Jake White bemoaned the fact that travel arrangements had not been forthcoming from SA Rugby by the end of their last 16 clash against Lyon, in the event they had to fly to England for a last eight game against Northampton Saints.
"I don't think people have twigged on to the fact that this is a quarterfinal in Europe. Can you imagine Barcelona playing Liverpool in the quarterfinal of the Champions League and not knowing if they're leaving on Tuesday or staying on Sunday?" he asked pointedly.
But after demanding that SA Rugby up their travel booking game to levels befitting rugby's version of the Champions League, White decided to pick what looked an awful lot like a B-team for Saturday's all-important fixture, with World Cup-winning Springboks Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse, as well as other capped Boks such as Embrose Papier, Elrigh Louw, Marcell Coetzee, Ruan Nortje, Wilco Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp all left at home.
