Vodacom Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White said that one of his main objectives at the Vodacom Bulls was to develop players to become Springboks. However, he said it is becoming a difficult juggling for management.
"It's great that local players get picked. It's wonderful for our club," White said.
"When I started here, we only had Trevor Nykane and Duane Vermeulen. Now we have eleven Springboks. If you take Jan Hendrik, who's just withdrawn, and our two new guys. So to have eleven Springboks in the mix now is fantastic."
"There are nine Springboks that is joining the Springbok group on Saturday. It's wonderful. It's really wonderful and the Bulls pride themselves on producing Springboks for the country."
"However, it comes obviously with a different management skill needed because, like the Lions, and I'm using them as an example, they got no Springboks, which means the next month, two months, is an easier transition for them because they are not losing players in and out of your team."
"We were fortunate to have that for a couple of seasons. So it is something new. And I must say, it is a very difficult juggling act because it's rest periods and it's test matches and it's cohesion and it's the ability to upskill certain players quickly while your senior players are away."
"You lose a lot of voice when those guys aren't here. When they're here, they talk a lot, they add value, they lead, they guide the youngsters, the immeasurables of the things they do are the things you lose."
"But we'll get there. The young captains whot are now coming through and the young players that are having to step up and experience those situations. It's one of those things where you can't practice and you can't ever simulate it. "
"It is a very unique time for us as a club because it's not something we've had to manage in the last four seasons."
"When I started here, all the kids were young, 22, 23 years old. Most of them weren't married."
Most of them were single guys. Now, all of a sudden, four years later, you've got married players with kids. So the dynamic of our group is completely different. It comes a very different management style and a very different feeling on how you look after the players."