Jake White takes DIG at referee after URC final defeat to Stormers

Bulls coach Jake White has suggested the officiating in the United Rugby Championship (URC) final cost his side victory.

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Irish referee Andrew Brace was the man in charge of the inaugural URC final at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday as the Bulls let a 7-3 half-time lead slip in an 18-13 defeat to the Stormers.

At the post-match press conference, a visibly emotional White refused to directly criticise the referee, but was clearly frustrated by the handling of the breakdown and offsides line in particular.

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“It is what it is. I didn’t think we were ever going to win that game,” said Jake White.

“I thought the ref was outstanding, he saw what he saw. I couldn’t control the other things. There are other controllables which we couldn’t control. You guys can work it out yourselves. I’m not going to get into it. The ref only saw what he saw. At the end of the day, it’s all you want a ref to do, is see what he sees.

“There were things tonight which we couldn’t control. We were never going to control them. I’ve told the players that. We are going to have to just put our heads down and when those things change, we will be OK.

“I thought the