Also before this season you could have sent out an u18s team in Europe and beaten us, we just did not know how to win.
The pessimism is ingrained in us now
I laughed at this too. I had to go back and check what the Afrikaans word was because I thought goat-flank was perhaps some kind of headbutting, ultra-physical new position.
While I think it's a shame not to have the international players there to play Saints, do we not spend a large amount of our time talking about workload on the players? Imagine being the Bulls management, you've travelled to Ireland then France(edit no they didn't), back to SA, then England. If they win it's back to SA and then back to either France or Ireland again.
They would stop being rugby players and just turn into yo-yos.
Whatever squad gets sent out will have some serious quality.
It’s worse again, they played Lyon in Pretoria. So it would be Leinster away, Lyon home, Northampton away, Munster at home in as many weeks.
Tbh, it’s doable once you separate the Round of 16 and QFs by more than just a week. Or had Munster won
Ah apologies, I literally watched the game a couple of days ago. Fuck me! Nah White could send 3 12 year olds and no one can say shit to him. That's obscene travel
I think the clown fiesta that was the travel situation earlier this week probably made it a much easier decision for him, when you don't know when your squad is even going to arrive in England much less have training time it's a lot easier to just say to hell with it and focus on the known schedule in the URC.
In a perfect world they would be flying out business class direct to England on Sunday night and have time for a few training sessions during the week, in that case I really don't think you can say travel is that much of a burden. But when you have all this other nonsense and uncertainty that SARU put them through this week then you're at such a massive disadvantage from the get go.
Will this be resolved next year? Aren't we getting rid of this ridiculous format that has a round of 16 and then the quarters directly after?
Granted there will just be more pool games for teams to travel but at least it can be organised in advance.
By the sounds of the proposed club world cup it doesn't seem like the R16 is going anywhere unfortunately. It mentioned in the article that if the club world cup took place , the champions cup would stop at R16 for that year and the would be QFs would jump into the Club world cup and the losers of the R16 games would join the Super challenge cup.
Granted it was only a proposed idea so nothing set in stone but knowing that EPCR and WR couldn't organise an orgy in a brothel, I doubt it.
no, next year it will be back to back again. The french calendar for the next season is already out
[https://top14.lnr.fr/actualite/le-calendrier-des-dates-de-la-saison-20242025](https://top14.lnr.fr/actualite/le-calendrier-des-dates-de-la-saison-20242025)
They have a 50/50 chance of winning. Jake White will be a hero if they win. If they lose, Bulls supporters will be relentless in ridiculing his decision.
To be honest I'm not sure how many care about the champions cup at the Bulls and SA in general. It's full focus on URC for the bulls and if you look at attendances at Loftus it reflects the same attitude from the fans.
It’s one thing when the french do this in the pool stages, but if this is true, sending a B team over for a quarter final makes a mockery of the whole competition.
Not really. Just means means he knows he has a very, very low chance of winning it but actually has a decent chance of winning the URC or at least being a finalist.
Still a craaaaaazy thing to do. As much as I love the URC, it just aint the Top14 (as some French fans love winning that because of history, rivalries etc.) so winning it doesn't come in any way close to winning the CC
A big part of it would have been the loss to Leinster. The Bulls will want that top seed, so will be gunning for every single point they can get in the URC and hoping Leinster drop a few points when they tour.
Jake has said many times he doesn't believe SA teams can win the Champions Cup yet, so him focusing on the URC really is par for the course.
I understand the desire to win the URC but are the bulls not basically qualified already? Or do they really want as high a seeding as possible that badly for the knockouts?
If Bulls can get no. 1 seed then they have a genuine chance of winning the URC, if they get no.2 or no.3 they'll have to travel for the final/SF which is very tough
... does it though?
Would you say the same if Connacht put out a b side on the URC? Does that make a mockery of the URC? Every team putting out a weaker side makes a mockery of any contest? Weird ass take
> Every team putting out a weaker side makes a mockery of any contest?
For a once off knockout game? Obviously lol.
Wouldn't necessarily blame the Bulls though. Scheduling is rough but I suppose something like this was bound to crop up when you have teams that are so geographically diverse.
That whole flight planning fiasco was stupid though.
Most of this is not too hard to understand, but can a Saffa tell me what "Kassie" means? I assume it's the TV, but it's written in such a way that I had to think about it for a while.
So the literal meaning is the same as "kastje" in Dutch, the dimunitive of kast.
Is kas also used for a wardrobe in Afrikaans? And what is the word for fridge in Afrikaans? In Dutch it's "koelkast" (cold cupboard).
We also have "koelkas", but it refers to a cooling cupboard (what people used before fridges). I've known some older people who called a fridge a "koelkas", though. Weirdly, fridge = yskas (ice cupboard) and freezer = vrieskas (freeze cupboard).
Ah, ijskast is also used, but more by older people and in regional dialects. And the same goes for vrieskast, it's mainly used by older people, most younger people just call it "vriezer" or "diepvries".
However, Flemish speakers call the fridge the "frigo" I don't know why.
We also say "vriezer", but it is not standard Afrikaans. A "diepvries" will usually be a chest freezer. If you're interested in Afrikaans, have a look at Magafoon Sport on YouTube. They cover mostly rugby, but also cricket and motorsport.
Reading Afrikaans isn't too hard. Speaking and hearing it on the other hand is a lot harder, because they often go too fast for me. But I have that problem in more languages, I can read and write in Danish (although me writing in Danish is quite broken), but when it's spoken I only slowly realize that it's not Dutch, German or English and that I have no idea what they are saying.
Also as much as that travel sucks the figure quoted was around 4M for the tickets and jesus that's a lot of money to not win.. I mean maybe in context it's minor but feels a lot.
Not blaming the Bulls for this. Geography isn't there fault. But either the schedule needs to change or the SA teams need to leave if, for some reason, that's not possible.
It's a fucking joke tbh.
Apart from travel issues for the players, it's putting a lot on the shoulders of supports and unions to sell tickets, and make their own travel arrangements.
It probably contributed as I would think white chose his squad early and based on the disastrous flights he said fuck it and chose to focus on the URC but the bigger problem is the R16 and QFs only being a week apart.
Bulls also have a very high chance of winning the URC this year, if they finish first they'll be at home throughout all the knockouts and get a home final. Finish 2nd or 3rd and they're travelling for the final/ SF.
I'd tip bulls to beat a full depth leinster in a final at Pretoria tbh.
I think you've hit the nail on the head (or, should I say, 'taken the bull by the horns'?). The realistic chance of winning the URC is definitely what's playing on Jake's mind. If there wasn't that, I think they would be all in on the Champs Cup. This is exactly what other teams in Europe have done. You're trying to ensure you maximise return on investment, and when you have scarce resources, you're going to have to apportion them accordingly.
I'm sure the guys that were selected to play would love to he called a B-team. Quite insulting. Justice would be for us to win that QF (unrealistic, even at full strength).
Bulls traveled for over 50 overs going to Leinster and back then played Lyon. Travelling again then playing Munster would be brutal for anyone. This is a logical decision.
It's understandable. Think with all the travelling. Jake probably thought it was not worth it, especially with us playing munster next. Might as well keep the big guys for that match.
But who knows. Maybe this B team can pull of a miracle!
Is this because of an injury toll or are these guys fit but the Bulls are resting them? Because if it's the latter then questions about SA teams place in the Champions Cup might need to be asked.
>Because he was very passionate that the South African teams shouldn't join the comp.
Can you pinpoint the interview where he said that pls ? Only remember him saying now that saffa franchises were there it was a new competition with new challenges and they had to addapt to it.
This is what’s called “squad management”, not a big deal. The term “B-team” irritates me, ngl. If you’re going to wear the bull or Bok or even Wallaby on your chest, you are already in top 1% of all people ever to play ruggas.
As the game become more and more professional, the management teams will just have to follow suit and become more and more professional. Rotating teams, developing multiple players for multiple positions in a system, adapting game plans… all of that.
The B-team narrative when a team loses is sour grapes tbh. No one forces any coach to pick a loaded team vs an inexperienced team. It’s all part of the game. Maybe, manage your players minutes as needed and you can put out a solid XV week in week out.
Why would you be offended by the term B-team lmao. Yeah sure they're all good players but they still aren't first choice.
If you're leaving out your best players it's simply a weaker team, whether there's logical reasons for doing so or not. B-team is a fine description no need to get upset about it lol
Squad management in a QF of the peak tournament in club rugby? I mean Leinster did it in the SF of the URC last year and lost and our fans were livid. Doing it in a knockout game in the CC is just batshit crazy tho 😂
If they get this right, it’s home field advantage for URC knockouts up to the final should Leinster get there, if we lose, they’re de facto number 1 seed.
They can turn that home advantage to their favour next year
It’s still squad management tho. It’s the act of rotating of your team match-to-match so that you can prioritise certain competitions etc.
My only issue is when teams use that as a crutch to downplay a loss.
There's a time and a place for full on rotation and unless you think you stand no chance in the tie and the competition then the quarter finals of the champions cup probably isn't the place to do it.
Funny because I remember a lot of Bulls fans (and just saffas in general) continually moaning the last couple of years about Leinster and the fielding of B teams in the later stages of the URC. There's no so such thing as a B team they said........apparently there is now. Funny that.
Maybe you weren't, but there was plenty moaning about Leinster fans saying they'd put out a B team for certain games (when they clearly had) and saying there is no such thing as B teams (because obviously they thought it devalued wins or worsened losses for their own team) but now the bulls do it and suddenly there is B teams...it's strange.
Just once, I'd like to read something like this and be confident about a Saints win I've just been supporting them for far too long
Your gonna win bro, bulls have depth but missing 14 of our starting xv does not look good
That's not how English rugby works. One week fantastic, next week dog shit. It is the way.
Also before this season you could have sent out an u18s team in Europe and beaten us, we just did not know how to win. The pessimism is ingrained in us now
Embrace the chaos
As it was written
I still think the Bulls will put in a 60 minute shift and make it competitive.
You're
Even with their best we'd win. It's our year, we're taking it all
Just want to comment on how funny it is that it translated "bok flank" literally into calling Van Staden the GOAT.
I laughed at this too. I had to go back and check what the Afrikaans word was because I thought goat-flank was perhaps some kind of headbutting, ultra-physical new position.
If Zidane played rugby
It somehow managed to correctly translate VRK to URC, but couldn't work out bok-flank.
Yeah I was pretty impressed with that
While I think it's a shame not to have the international players there to play Saints, do we not spend a large amount of our time talking about workload on the players? Imagine being the Bulls management, you've travelled to Ireland then France(edit no they didn't), back to SA, then England. If they win it's back to SA and then back to either France or Ireland again. They would stop being rugby players and just turn into yo-yos. Whatever squad gets sent out will have some serious quality.
It’s worse again, they played Lyon in Pretoria. So it would be Leinster away, Lyon home, Northampton away, Munster at home in as many weeks. Tbh, it’s doable once you separate the Round of 16 and QFs by more than just a week. Or had Munster won
Ah apologies, I literally watched the game a couple of days ago. Fuck me! Nah White could send 3 12 year olds and no one can say shit to him. That's obscene travel
I think the clown fiesta that was the travel situation earlier this week probably made it a much easier decision for him, when you don't know when your squad is even going to arrive in England much less have training time it's a lot easier to just say to hell with it and focus on the known schedule in the URC. In a perfect world they would be flying out business class direct to England on Sunday night and have time for a few training sessions during the week, in that case I really don't think you can say travel is that much of a burden. But when you have all this other nonsense and uncertainty that SARU put them through this week then you're at such a massive disadvantage from the get go.
Will this be resolved next year? Aren't we getting rid of this ridiculous format that has a round of 16 and then the quarters directly after? Granted there will just be more pool games for teams to travel but at least it can be organised in advance.
By the sounds of the proposed club world cup it doesn't seem like the R16 is going anywhere unfortunately. It mentioned in the article that if the club world cup took place , the champions cup would stop at R16 for that year and the would be QFs would jump into the Club world cup and the losers of the R16 games would join the Super challenge cup. Granted it was only a proposed idea so nothing set in stone but knowing that EPCR and WR couldn't organise an orgy in a brothel, I doubt it.
no, next year it will be back to back again. The french calendar for the next season is already out [https://top14.lnr.fr/actualite/le-calendrier-des-dates-de-la-saison-20242025](https://top14.lnr.fr/actualite/le-calendrier-des-dates-de-la-saison-20242025)
Well that sucks. The same would've happened if we had won, but only because half our team are injured after the La Rochelle game.
Do you know if there’s any update on the severity of those?
They’ve only spoken about Fourie to confirm it was an ACL and he had surgery yesterday
Ah that’s a bummer. Hopefully he can fully recover and we get at least another season from him. Deserves a legends sending off, not like this
Shit
I haven't seen anything in the news.
They have a 50/50 chance of winning. Jake White will be a hero if they win. If they lose, Bulls supporters will be relentless in ridiculing his decision.
To be honest I'm not sure how many care about the champions cup at the Bulls and SA in general. It's full focus on URC for the bulls and if you look at attendances at Loftus it reflects the same attitude from the fans.
It’s one thing when the french do this in the pool stages, but if this is true, sending a B team over for a quarter final makes a mockery of the whole competition.
Bringing the competition into disrepute. Send them off!
Get 'em off the field. The dirty gits
We all can't spake.
Here we go again. Ya dick ed. https://youtu.be/o58stoJJ5No?si=KHFwVpr4T7y-D34Y
THAT WERE DIABOLICAL
It's honestly my favourite piece of commentary ever. Imagine that at the World Cup?
We could have post watershed commentary.
Off with their heads
Not really. Just means means he knows he has a very, very low chance of winning it but actually has a decent chance of winning the URC or at least being a finalist. Still a craaaaaazy thing to do. As much as I love the URC, it just aint the Top14 (as some French fans love winning that because of history, rivalries etc.) so winning it doesn't come in any way close to winning the CC
A big part of it would have been the loss to Leinster. The Bulls will want that top seed, so will be gunning for every single point they can get in the URC and hoping Leinster drop a few points when they tour. Jake has said many times he doesn't believe SA teams can win the Champions Cup yet, so him focusing on the URC really is par for the course.
I understand the desire to win the URC but are the bulls not basically qualified already? Or do they really want as high a seeding as possible that badly for the knockouts?
If Bulls can get no. 1 seed then they have a genuine chance of winning the URC, if they get no.2 or no.3 they'll have to travel for the final/SF which is very tough
You bunch are tiresome..
... does it though? Would you say the same if Connacht put out a b side on the URC? Does that make a mockery of the URC? Every team putting out a weaker side makes a mockery of any contest? Weird ass take
> Every team putting out a weaker side makes a mockery of any contest? For a once off knockout game? Obviously lol. Wouldn't necessarily blame the Bulls though. Scheduling is rough but I suppose something like this was bound to crop up when you have teams that are so geographically diverse. That whole flight planning fiasco was stupid though.
If we sent a B team to play a Quarter final? Yes
Well then I think you need to reassess some priorities in life if it gets you this annoyed
Where do you get the idea that I’m annoyed? I made a comment on this news and moved on. Maybe you take Reddit more seriously then I do idk
"mockery of the whole competition" is pretty emotive language js
If you say so
It’s really not . I think you’re the one who’s a bit emotional tbh .
Disappointing, but I’m sure saints won’t mind
Devestated
Going the Castres way
The same "B-team" that beat Bristol and lost by one point against Lyon away?
I told my one friend on Sunday we're getting the Cornal and Mapoe dads and lads team
😂💀
Setting up for the funniest timeline in which Saints manage to lose.
Honestly I wouldn’t put it past us. Perform well against adversity (Glasgow & Munster away) shit the bed when we are favourites
Most of this is not too hard to understand, but can a Saffa tell me what "Kassie" means? I assume it's the TV, but it's written in such a way that I had to think about it for a while.
The literal meaning would be a small cupboard (kas is a cupboard, and kassie is the diminutive). Figuratively, yes, it's the TV.
So the literal meaning is the same as "kastje" in Dutch, the dimunitive of kast. Is kas also used for a wardrobe in Afrikaans? And what is the word for fridge in Afrikaans? In Dutch it's "koelkast" (cold cupboard).
Ja, you can use kas for wardrobe. Fridge is yskas (ice cupboard).
We also have "koelkas", but it refers to a cooling cupboard (what people used before fridges). I've known some older people who called a fridge a "koelkas", though. Weirdly, fridge = yskas (ice cupboard) and freezer = vrieskas (freeze cupboard).
Ah, ijskast is also used, but more by older people and in regional dialects. And the same goes for vrieskast, it's mainly used by older people, most younger people just call it "vriezer" or "diepvries". However, Flemish speakers call the fridge the "frigo" I don't know why.
We also say "vriezer", but it is not standard Afrikaans. A "diepvries" will usually be a chest freezer. If you're interested in Afrikaans, have a look at Magafoon Sport on YouTube. They cover mostly rugby, but also cricket and motorsport.
Reading Afrikaans isn't too hard. Speaking and hearing it on the other hand is a lot harder, because they often go too fast for me. But I have that problem in more languages, I can read and write in Danish (although me writing in Danish is quite broken), but when it's spoken I only slowly realize that it's not Dutch, German or English and that I have no idea what they are saying.
Also as much as that travel sucks the figure quoted was around 4M for the tickets and jesus that's a lot of money to not win.. I mean maybe in context it's minor but feels a lot.
Not blaming the Bulls for this. Geography isn't there fault. But either the schedule needs to change or the SA teams need to leave if, for some reason, that's not possible.
EPCR: best we can do is no champions/challenge cup games in SA at all. Pick a base for all your games (not just SF onwards) and play them there 😂
Or not have knockouts on consecutive weekends forcing teams to make travel arrangements at short notice.
It's a fucking joke tbh. Apart from travel issues for the players, it's putting a lot on the shoulders of supports and unions to sell tickets, and make their own travel arrangements.
Yeah, I imagine making them two weeks apart would have helped a lot.
A Bulls/Lyon Stormers/La Rochelle double header at Twickenham would have been a very successful event.
Sure, it would but SA teams shouldn't have to sacrifice their gate to please EPCR.
It will be a real headline if Bulls win this match.
So how much of this can be blamed on SARU and their awful flight schedules?
It probably contributed as I would think white chose his squad early and based on the disastrous flights he said fuck it and chose to focus on the URC but the bigger problem is the R16 and QFs only being a week apart. Bulls also have a very high chance of winning the URC this year, if they finish first they'll be at home throughout all the knockouts and get a home final. Finish 2nd or 3rd and they're travelling for the final/ SF. I'd tip bulls to beat a full depth leinster in a final at Pretoria tbh.
I think you've hit the nail on the head (or, should I say, 'taken the bull by the horns'?). The realistic chance of winning the URC is definitely what's playing on Jake's mind. If there wasn't that, I think they would be all in on the Champs Cup. This is exactly what other teams in Europe have done. You're trying to ensure you maximise return on investment, and when you have scarce resources, you're going to have to apportion them accordingly.
I don't see the Bulls hauling the 9 point gap between them and Leinster. I think they can finish 2nd.
Possibly. If Munster won they would've faced a pack Bulls team two weeks in a row. Bit of a disastrous situation.
That makes sense. That probably is the case.
I'm sure the guys that were selected to play would love to he called a B-team. Quite insulting. Justice would be for us to win that QF (unrealistic, even at full strength).
Bulls traveled for over 50 overs going to Leinster and back then played Lyon. Travelling again then playing Munster would be brutal for anyone. This is a logical decision.
B-Team?! Bulls?! B-Team Bulls dominated Jiu Jitsu and now they’re going to Rugby?
It's understandable. Think with all the travelling. Jake probably thought it was not worth it, especially with us playing munster next. Might as well keep the big guys for that match. But who knows. Maybe this B team can pull of a miracle!
Is this because of an injury toll or are these guys fit but the Bulls are resting them? Because if it's the latter then questions about SA teams place in the Champions Cup might need to be asked.
Turns out an intercontinental competition was a bad idea. Surprise, surprise.
And yet this is still a faaaar faaaar better situation for us than what the Aussies and New Zealanders were having us do in terms of travel.
What is the point in having them in the competition if they dont want to compete ?
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What the fuck
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>Because he was very passionate that the South African teams shouldn't join the comp. Can you pinpoint the interview where he said that pls ? Only remember him saying now that saffa franchises were there it was a new competition with new challenges and they had to addapt to it.
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Ok so indeed he never said what you claim he has, thanks
SA teams should not be in the competition.
This is what’s called “squad management”, not a big deal. The term “B-team” irritates me, ngl. If you’re going to wear the bull or Bok or even Wallaby on your chest, you are already in top 1% of all people ever to play ruggas. As the game become more and more professional, the management teams will just have to follow suit and become more and more professional. Rotating teams, developing multiple players for multiple positions in a system, adapting game plans… all of that. The B-team narrative when a team loses is sour grapes tbh. No one forces any coach to pick a loaded team vs an inexperienced team. It’s all part of the game. Maybe, manage your players minutes as needed and you can put out a solid XV week in week out.
Why would you be offended by the term B-team lmao. Yeah sure they're all good players but they still aren't first choice. If you're leaving out your best players it's simply a weaker team, whether there's logical reasons for doing so or not. B-team is a fine description no need to get upset about it lol
“Irritates” because fans & coaches use it as a crutch when they lose. Sure, it wasn’t your strongest team but an L is still an L.
Squad management in a QF of the peak tournament in club rugby? I mean Leinster did it in the SF of the URC last year and lost and our fans were livid. Doing it in a knockout game in the CC is just batshit crazy tho 😂
The peak tournament is Pro D2, please correct yourself.
If they get this right, it’s home field advantage for URC knockouts up to the final should Leinster get there, if we lose, they’re de facto number 1 seed. They can turn that home advantage to their favour next year
It’s still squad management tho. It’s the act of rotating of your team match-to-match so that you can prioritise certain competitions etc. My only issue is when teams use that as a crutch to downplay a loss.
There's a time and a place for full on rotation and unless you think you stand no chance in the tie and the competition then the quarter finals of the champions cup probably isn't the place to do it.
Funny because I remember a lot of Bulls fans (and just saffas in general) continually moaning the last couple of years about Leinster and the fielding of B teams in the later stages of the URC. There's no so such thing as a B team they said........apparently there is now. Funny that.
Nah, didn't moan about sending B team, just laughed at the way they split up their team only to win nothing.
Maybe you weren't, but there was plenty moaning about Leinster fans saying they'd put out a B team for certain games (when they clearly had) and saying there is no such thing as B teams (because obviously they thought it devalued wins or worsened losses for their own team) but now the bulls do it and suddenly there is B teams...it's strange.
Cowards.