SA Rugby hits back at Jake White travel complaints with detailed statement

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SA Rugby has responded to Bulls boss Jake White’s complaints about their travel situation to England ahead of their Champions Cup quarter-final against Northampton Saints this weekend.

The Bulls marched through Lyon in the round of 16 with a stunning 59-19 win over the French side, setting up their clash with Saints. However, White was left frustrated after the clash with the lack of arrangements from SA Rugby over their travel plans.

The coach referenced their trip to Leinster in the United Rugby Championship last month where the squad was split into eight different planes and took more than 24 hours of travel to reach Dublin.

White complained further about the situation on Tuesday after having been given the schedule which split his squad as he expected.

Detailed response

Now SA Rugby has released a statement to the media, detailing the process behind securing travel arrangements and the challenges that come with the organisation.

“Media are advised that SA Rugby provided 38 flights for the Vodacom Bulls Investec Champions Cup quarter-final squad – 33 in business class and five in economy class,” the statement read.

SA Rugby also confirmed that the playing squad and White took an overnight flight in business class to London while the remainder of the tour squad took longer to travel.

“The playing squad will arrive in London before 08h00 local time on Wednesday having travelled overnight in business class on two airlines: British Airways (24 players and management) and Lufthansa (4 players and management),” they wrote.

“The coach and CEO also flew directly to London overnight on Virgin in business class. The balance of eight of the tour squad (four management and four players) travelled via Zurich, Doha, and Dubai.”

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Pre-booking not an option

The governing body explained why pre-booking seats was not a viable option as well as detailing how the demand for flights influences the process.

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“Media will appreciate that the high demand for business class seats in and out of South Africa, allied to the reduced number of flights into the country and the late confirmation of the required seats (Sunday evening) made it well-known to all parties that securing business class seats on a single flight would be impossible,” the statement added.

“Pre-booking seats was discounted as an option in view of the potential risk of loss of 100% of the flight cost for a group booking, should it not be required as it was unknown until 48 hours before departure whether the Vodacom Bulls would qualify, or be playing home or away (in the event of qualification).

“SA Rugby believes that the flights sourced by SA Rugby for the Vodacom Bulls (at a cost to SA Rugby of R4 108 449.00) represent the very best outcome it was possible to achieve in the circumstances.”