On paper, the Champions Cup quarter-finals in the middle of Northampton and the Pretoria Bulls are the dream come true of a Rugby fantasy. The Premier League leaders against the only South African team to win a Super Rugby title. The 21-year-old blacksmith pulls the strings against the fleshy actioners. Franklin’s Gardens under the light. This should be Club Rugby at its best.

In reality, the show was overshadowed by a logistical nightmare that jeopardized the sense of occasion. Jake White, the Bulls coach who was in power of the Springboks when they won the World Cup, left 13 of his regulars at home. The world champions Willie Le Roux, Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse, as well as their colleagues Bok Wilco Louw, Marcell Coetzee, Gerhard Steenkamp and Johan Goosen, will be watched from the Highveld. The official line is that many have injuries, with White also stressing the need to rotate his squad. But another statement that White rejected on Friday attracted attention.

This game is sandwiched in the middle of two matches in Pretoria. Last Saturday, the Bulls smack Lyon 59-19. next week they will face Munster in the United Rugby Championship. Each player involved in all three is expected to cover more than 16,000 miles in two weeks.

White would not be the first coach to choose a potentially weakened team for an away European tour. However, in light of the controversy over the inclusion of South African teams in the URC and continental competitions, he has been condemned of undermining the integrity of one of Rugby’s biggest events.

“It’s a wonderful competition and something we want to win,” White said, pointing out that six of the selected group played in the Super Rugby Final, with eight in the team that smack Leinster in Dublin two years ago. “One of the things I learned last year is that I didn’t turn my team around enough. This has nothing to do with Munster.”

White declined to comment on a statement from his Mother read as a rebuke for the Bulls coach’s accusations. “It’s not ideal,” White said Tuesday. “I’ve said it before: if you’re in a high-performance sport and you want to be competitive, there aren’t many sports teams that fly out on a Tuesday night with eight different airlines to play a Saturday night game.”

Leaving early was not an Option, as the Bulls had to wait for the result of the Northampton vs Munster match 24 hours after their victory in Lyon before making the necessary arrangements. In the event of a victory in Munster, the Bulls would have received the Irish province. Instead, they had to arrange a hasty trip to the Midlands.

Given the uncertainty, the booking of 38 flights was impossible because no airline was willing to assume the potential loss. By the time the 28 players and six support staff boarded separate flights on Tuesday night–with a cohort arriving in London via Zurich, Doha and then Dubai–SA Rugby had spent around £175,500.

It all adds up to a team led by former Wasps Flanker Nizaam Carr, who start as underdogs, although they don’t get any Sympathy from the Saints.