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Furious Jake White unleashes scathing rebuke on Bulls fans amidst Owen Farrell controversy
By Jan De Koning
Saracens’ Director of Rugby Mark McCall declined to get dragged into the subject, but his Bulls counterpart Jake White did not hold back in his condemnation of the Loftus Versfeld ‘boo boys’.
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The Bulls overpowered three-time champions Saracens 27-16 in their opening Champions Cup outing in Pretoria on Saturday – with flyhalf Johan Goosen contributing 12 points with the boot.
He converted the tries of centre David Kriel, lock Janko Swanepoel and wing Canan Moodie, also slotting two penalties.
In response, Sarries captain Owen Farrell kicked two penalties, while fullback Alex Goode and second row Maro Itoje scored tries.
Things only got harder for the travelling side – No.8 Billy Vunipola was red-carded for a vicious shoulder charge at a ruck, while fullback Alex Goode (late tackle) and lock Maro Itoje (slapping the ball down) were issued with yellow cards.
The Bulls will now face Lyon away from home in their second match, with Saracens hosting Connacht.
In his post-match reaction, White made a point of calling out the ugly nature of some of the Loftus fans.
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Farrell has been frequently booed by opposition fans in recent weeks, especially during the World Cup with England, and announced a break from the international game for his mental well-being which will rule him out of the Six Nations.
This was his first game since that announcement and the South African fans booed Farrell after a missed drop-goal and when lining up a conversion towards the end of the game.
“I have nothing to say about that,” McCall responded to a question about the fans.
White, after being asked about the game and his team’s impressive win, made a point of taking a swipe at the fans.
“I am apologising for all the booing of Owen Farrell,” an indignant White said. “It is not who we [the Bulls] are,” he added.
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He suggested people have ‘jumped on the Owen Farrell hate bandwagon’ and there is no reason for the animosity towards the Saracens captain.
“I don’t understand all the negativity,” White said, adding: “He is an unbelievable player.
“What he has achieved in England is phenomenal.
“I am disappointed [about the booing]. I wanted the people to enjoy the fact that they get to see him play.
“You equate that to watching Tiger Woods play golf and [Michael] Jordan playing basketball. I must apologise, because it [booing] is not really who we are.
“We will address that,” he said of the boo boys.
He said he was happy with the win against such a powerful team as Saracens.
McCall admitted his side had been up against it at altitude in Pretoria, with the red and yellow cards costing them.
“When you are losing collisions and under pressure then sometimes that lack of discipline happens,” the Sarries boss said.
“I thought Alex Goode was unlucky to be honest, I didn’t agree with that decision.
“Billy was trying to be urgent and clear out from a line-out and got it wrong. These things happen sometimes.
“I’m pleased we fought back hard in the second half but disappointed with the first half.”
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The writer here ignores the fact that, following on from not taking the penalty kick, the All Blacks did manage to score a try a few minutes later. Not directly from the penalty awarded, but it is speculation to say that had they opted to take the koi they would have won. Even if they kicked it, which was no guarantee, they would still be trailing and would have had to start again at half-way.
Go to commentsI would be surprised if Sales Opoku Fordjour and Northampton’s Tommy Freeman are not in the team, Anthony Watson is also one that could go on the wing. One thing I must say is that the front 3 will get destroyed against a team like South Africa.
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