Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White is relishing the energy he feels his team takes with them into their Vodacom United Rugby Championship break after beating the Cell C Sharks against the backdrop of a sea of pink breast cancer awareness supporters at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.
The much-anticipated Pink Drive match certainly delivered for White and his team as they took all of the inspiration of donating to a breast cancer sufferer’s treatment on Jacaranda FM’s Good Morning Angels a few days before the game, the support of thousands of fans dressed in pink on Sunday – including a few players from Mamelodi Sundowns – and having photos of breast cancer survivors on their jersey to beat the Cell C Sharks 40-27.
“We’re going to go on a break now, and it’s nice to come back after that and have this energy that’s in the changeroom. It’s a nice place to be in terms of the energy we have now,” said White.
“We got a five-pointer against the Cell C Sharks, which is a multi-million-rand team. There’s a lot of excitement. We’re seven games into the competition with five wins and a couple of bonus points wins as well with lots of tries. We’re third on the log. If we’re playing like this there’s no reason why we can’t get better.”
The Vodacom Bulls walked away with the biggest share of the spoils in a match played for a bigger cause. Sunday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash between these two rivals was played under the banner of “United We Care” as the Vodacom Bulls played for CANSA and the Cell C Sharks for PinkDrive and the work both these organisations do in providing mobile screening clinics for the early detection of breast cancer. Vodacom and SuperSport teamed up to donate R250 000 to CANSA and R250 000 to PinkDrive. Even the match officials in the Northern Hemisphere played their part as they all wore pink jerseys.
“I just want to thank every Vodacom Bulls supporter for creating awareness for breast cancer. I think the message was sent properly,” said Vodacom Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee.
