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Jake White's Bulls boom reflected in attendances
By Ian Cameron
The entry of the Bulls into the United Rugby Championship (URC) has seen a boom in ticket sales, despite the franchise only being able to use 50 per cent of Loftus Versfeld.
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Blue Bulls Company CEO, Edgar Rathbone predicts that over 25,000 fans will descend to their home ground to see Jake White’s team take on the Cell C Sharks this Saturday in their URC quarter-final, despite pandemic restrictions.
The Bulls’ success saw them come fourth in the regular season despite a shaky start to the competition in 2021.
“We always knew it was going to be a tough competition,” said Rathbone. “What I respect about our coaching staff and our team is that they came back, in a debrief, after that specific tour and said that they need to make some game plan changes and how we play, specifically a lot more ball in hand and a lot more tempo.
“That is what surprised us the most from the European teams – the tempo, especially that first game against Leinster. They then started implementing the changes and the team, at first, struggled to get the hang of it. Obviously when you change things it takes a bit of time. As soon as all those game plans clicked in, we saw the results in the competition.
“We need to thank the players and the coaches for all the work they have done to get us to the position we are in now – to play a quarterfinal in Pretoria. We are all really looking forward to Saturday.”
“The last few days we’ve seen a massive peak in ticket sales. We are getting close to 20 000, with our stadium being allowed to accommodate 50% of the capacity,” confirmed Rathbone.
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“The appetite to watch live rugby at our stadiums we have seen growing… The quality of rugby has been exceptional.
“Our tickets start at R25 and there are still ample tickets available in that category, and they sell all the way to R250 for the best seats in the house. Interestingly, it is always the more expensive seats that sell out the quickest.
“It has always been our plan to look after our supporters with affordable tickets. We all know what the economy is like, and the fuel price increases. We understand that it becomes difficult for families to come to the stadiums, so we try our best to make our tickets affordable.”
South African franchise involvement in European competition took another major step forward today with news that five South African teams will be included in next season’s European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup competitions.
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The Stormers, Sharks and Bulls will play in the Champions Cup, while the Lions and Cheetahs will contest the Challenge Cup, it was revealed.
