Jake White opens up about his COVID-19 battle

SPOTLIGHT: Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White has opened up about his personal battle with COVID-19 and the friends he lost to the virus.

White revealed all during the Bulls squad announcement on Monday ahead of their midweek clash against the Lions in Pretoria.

He was one of the people in the squad who was infected with the virus three weeks ago.

"The virus struck me down. I was in bed for a few days and I gained some perspective again on life in general.

"I wasn’t with the team, but I was in contact with the coaching staff and the conditioning coaches."

White added: "I'm healthy now and I'm psyched and charged and in 20 days we will know who the Currie Cup champions will be. It will be four games and if everything goes well, we will play three of them at Loftus."

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During his recovery period, White received news that two of his close friends - HTS Drostdy principal Arthur Underday and Arthob Petersen - had both passed away due to COVID related complications.

Petersen was the Springboks' team manager during White's tenure as coach.

"I lost friends during this period. Not that we underestimated this pandemic, but I realised again that this virus is serious.

"That's what I mean with getting some perspective during my time off. I just realised again that we're so lucky and privileged to do what we enjoy. I’ve really tried to return to the team with the renewed objective of having fun," White added.

Additional source: Sport 24