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https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/news\/jake-white-lifts-lid-on-south-african-fans-attitude-to-urc\/ <\/p>\nmens<\/p>\n
united-rugby-championship<\/p>\n
Jack Conan of Leinster and Ruan Nortje of Vodacom Bulls in attendance for the URC Grand Final Captain’s Photocall at Croke Park in Dublin. (Photo By David Fitzgerald\/Sportsfile via Getty Images) https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/news\/jake-white-lifts-lid-on-south-african-fans-attitude-to-urc\/ <\/p>\n
Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White has made a brilliant point around South African fans attitudes to the United Rugby Championship<\/a> four years on from the country\u2019s split from Super Rugby. <\/p>\n Speaking ahead of his side\u2019s URC final clash with Leinster<\/a> in Dublin, White drew comparisons between the URC and Super Rugby, a competition he knows intimately from spells with the Brumbies<\/a> and Sharks. <\/p>\n While he acknowledged differences in format and public perception, the 2007 World Cup-winning coach stressed that some things remain the regardless of the competition.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say it would be exactly the same because in South Africa<\/a> winning is part of what every franchise would want to do.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not talking from a standard point of view. People have had this debate whether Super Rugby is anything [compared] to URC.<\/p>\n Head-to-Head <\/p>\n Last 5 Meetings<\/p>\n Average Points scored<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe achievement of winning something when you\u2019ve spent as many weeks as any team has in preparation for a game like this becomes as important as any other competition.<\/p>\n \u201cSuper Rugby is much shorter. This is a long drawn-out competition with EPCR thrown in between.<\/p>\n \u201cMy answer is very simple. Having coached in Super Rugby \u2013 I wasn\u2019t lucky enough to win it but made it to a Final when I was at the Brumbies.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s as big for any player playing in any tournament to win silverware at the end.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why the talks in the media all week were about Leinster saying that it\u2019s serious because everyone wants to win some sort of silverware.\u201d<\/p>\n On the topic of fan engagement, White was candid about South African supporters\u2019 evolving relationship with the URC.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things that\u2019s interesting and I\u2019ve been around a long time, they [South African fans] didn\u2019t buy into Super Rugby when we joined it either.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t understand it. They didn\u2019t know who the guys from Waikato [Chiefs] and Otago [Highlanders] were.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd as time went on they got a better feel for how Super Rugby worked.\u201d<\/p>\n The transition to URC has followed a similar path.<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of URC, they\u2019re still not sure how it all fits in.<\/p>\n Team Form <\/p>\n Last 5 Games<\/p>\n 4\/5<\/p>\n Race To 10 Points<\/p>\n 4\/5<\/p>\n <\/p>\n White added: \u201cI do think in time they now realise that it\u2019s a phenomenal tournament and you\u2019re seeing the best players in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no different from when Super Rugby started to take off.<\/p>\n \u201cThey could see Christian Cullen<\/a> playing for the Hurricanes<\/a> and Jonah Lomu<\/a> playing for the Blues.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be fair, we\u2019re playing Ireland<\/a> tomorrow [Saturday]. It just so happens that they\u2019re wearing a different colour jersey this weekend but we\u2019re playing Ireland.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s probably why South Africans are tuned in because they know these players as Irish internationals.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve gotten some messages from back home. People are supporting the Bulls.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople in Cape Town and Durban are supporting the Bulls. That\u2019s like Munster<\/a> supporting Leinster tomorrow [Saturday].<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just what happens when rugby fever hits. They bought into it and it\u2019s no different to how it happened in Super Rugby.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/309.png.webp\"\/)
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