Northampton Saints lock and retired England forward Courtney Lawes blasted the Bulls for sending a watered-down team for last week's Champions Cup quarter-final, saying the Bulls' eight-flight theory was exaggerated.
Bulls director of rugby Jake White was at pains to express, before and after their 59-22 Champions Cup round of 16 win at Franklin's Gardens, that they needed to catch different flights to the United Kingdom for the Saints game.
White beat the drum so hard it forced SA Rugby to issue a statement explaining why the Bulls players needed to take different flights for their game.