Peripatetic South African rugby coach Jake White is enjoying being in a city with a rugby heart, something he hasn't felt in Canberra, Montpellier and Japan.
The coach of the 2007 World Cup-winning Springboks said, "None of those places are really big rugby places, so it's nice to be in a city where there's a buzz around rugby, and there the fans are a little rugby crazy."
White said his job with the Bulls, whenever rugby returns to action in South Africa, was to build the Bulls to the point where they could develop players to achieve Springbok status.
Part of that would involve making South African sides competitive in Super Rugby.
White told iol.co.za, the key to success in Super Rugby was having quality in depth.
"If you've got a strong, experienced squad, with experienced players on the bench, you're halfway there.
"The teams that perform consistently well have depth. It gives the coach the luxury of resting players regularly and putting big-game players on the bench.
"Just look at the Bok team, and those guys who sat on the bench, that won the World Cup last year," he said.
Depth also provided necessary in-squad competition. That served to intimidate opponents with a fear factor.
White said the talent was in South Africa. The level of talent was scary, he said.
"I've coached all over the world and we still have the best juniors here, so there's no reason why we shouldn't be competitive on all fronts," he said.
While young players were still choosing to play for other countries, such as Brad Barritt for England and Paul Willemse for France, White said South Africa needed to sort out their coaching because that was the missing link in their structure.
"Look at the quality, depth and experience of the coaches in New Zealand; look at Warren Gatland, and what he's achieved in his coaching career, and not he's back in Super Rugby. Scott Robertson has got the Crusaders to the top again, and he went through the system.
"Where are all our experienced coaches? Overseas.
"Imagine if Johan Ackermann, Frans Ludeke, Heyneke Meyer, Allister Coetzee and even Rudolf Straeuli were still coaching, or involved locally. We'd be a stronger rugby nation for it," he said.
White added that while South African Super Rugby sides had never been behind New Zealand in player depth, but they were lacking in comparative coaching where they had not been up to scratch.
"Look at Leinster in Ireland – a former England head coach in Stuart Lancaster is their attack coach. That is depth and quality in the coaching team. We don't have that here.
"Just look at the difference Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber made to the Boks when they returned from coaching in Ireland for a short while. We need more high calibre coaches with international experience in our provincial structures," he said.
Whether South Africa should stick with Super Rugby or move to Europe was another subject White considered.
"If Super Rugby returned to the best teams playing each other in a round-robin then that's where I'd like to see us play. The conference system, and the addition of other teams recently, diluted the competition and it hasn't worked. Less is more.
"However, the money is up north and that's a big factor in today's game, so it may be best to go to Europe. Travel-wise it's also better.
"The downside is that all the clubs in Europe will see the South African boys on trial every weekend, and do we want that? There are pros and cons, in the south and north," he said.
White did expect to see overseas-based South African players heading home in the wake of 25 percent pay cuts in Europe while their clubs might not have the money to throw around in the post-Covid world.
"I think it'll be great to see more guys back in our rugby. And imagine all those top players going up against each other in the Currie Cup; a competition that was just about dead might just be the biggest thing in SA rugby in the next few years," he said.