Jake White’s bizarre claim about URC final referee that dates back to 2022

Bulls director of rugby Jake White has made the outlandish claim that referee Andrea Piardi “let the away team win” in the United Rugby Championship final on Saturday.

Speaking after his charges were beaten 21-16 by Glasgow Warriors at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, White was visibly dejected as he picked the bones of another final defeat.

Indeed, this was the Bulls‘ second loss in the showpiece URC game in three seasons after they were defeated 18-13 by the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium back in 2022.

Piardi claim

Heading into the final of that year the Bulls had beaten Leinster in Dublin and White used that result to push his claim about Italian Piardi, who refereed that match.

“It’s twice in a row now the referee has let the away side win. In fact, three times – last year Munster won in Cape Town, Glasgow won in Munster, we won in Leinster and this referee let the away team win (today) so maybe next year I’ll ask when we play away that I want him to try ref us,” he said at the press conference following the contest.

The comment refers to Piardi refereeing Munster’s 2023 final win at the Stormers, the Warriors overcoming Munster this year and the Bulls edging Leinster in Dublin in 2022.

White was clearly upset to have gone so close to the silverware and admitted that his side missed a big chance at winning the coveted United Rugby Championship title.

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“I’m helluva unhappy. I’m helluva disappointed. I’m an older guy and I’ve got to teach the youngsters we missed an opportunity tonight,” he said after the final loss in Pretoria.

“We did all the hard yards, we were 13-0 up 39 minutes into the game, we gave a penalty away and all of a sudden it’s 13-7. It was a maul penalty, strangely enough, but there weren’t any other maul penalties.

“When you get an opportunity like that, when you get older, you realise that sometimes you miss an opportunity. When I look back, 39 minutes, maul, I’m sure that if we held that ball in then maybe there’s a penalty to us then we’re 16-0 up. We break away, they get a penalty, they kick it into the corner and suddenly it’s 13-7.”

He added: “I’ve been in rugby for a long long time and credit to them, they defended really well. Some of our big ball carriers got tackled backwards but we’ll be back, I know.”

White pinpointed Glasgow’s bench as being a major factor in the result as he felt their greater experience showed in a pulsating final meeting that had a grandstand finish.

“If I’m honest about where we are, three years, two finals with a really young team. Every guy that came on for Glasgow Warriors is an international. We are not there yet,” he said before offering his personal feelings and looking ahead to next season.

“It’s probably tougher for me because as I get older I start to work those things out in my head, but we’ll be back.

“I’ve already marked when we’re playing Glasgow away. I’ve already marked the date.”

READ MORE: Bulls player ratings: A Johan Goosen ‘mare’ costs the hosts as ‘mighty’ Springbok forwards shine in URC final defeat