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| Face to face with new Bok coach Jake White |
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Stephen Nell February 22 2004 at 12:15PM |
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New national rugby coach Jake White has taken on the job at a time when the pressure is piling on South African rugby from every angle. The former SA under-21 coach and TV presenter is the 10th man in the job in 12 years, with only Nick Mallett and the late Kitch Christie before him having made the job a resounding success. Did you consult your family before taking the job? I had a chat with them and asked my sons, who are 12 and 8. I know what Nick Mallett's kids went through. But they felt it was a good opportunity and backed me. You held meetings with the Super 12 squads this week. What did you tell them? The main thing was to break down the perceptions of favouring junior over senior players. I wanted them all to understand that they would be getting an equal opportunity now. I explained to them that there are physical norms that I am looking for in each player. Those are non-negotiable. I expect when I invite a player to a training camp that he must adhere to those levels of physical fitness. It has been reported that letters went out to 35 players who supposedly have the inside track. Are you not making the mistake of committing yourself to certain players? The selection committee worked out a number. Once we've got the OK we will send the letters to the players. Those letters will spell out those norms. Yes, the one who gets the letter obviously has an inside track, but it must also serve as motivation to the one who doesn't get a letter. That doesn't mean he's out of it. It just means he must take his opportunity. I have to start somewhere. Brendan Venter believes that SA sides struggle to carry the ball through phases and with their defensive structure. Would you agree that these are the key shortcomings? He's right. We have good forwards and a solid base to work from, but between where we start with the ball and end with it, something goes wrong. We lose patience and structure. That's perhaps down to us not practising those situations over and over. You have to simulate it many times, sometimes in harsher conditions than it will be in the game. For example, if you want to do ball retention, you might do it with four guys around you. Then it's no problem when there are one or two. Which other areas do you feel we need to improve? We need to read and react to the mismatch (backs against forwards) quicker. You don't want structure at the expense of player options and player innovation. It's a balance, but I think that is one area that we need to work hard on as well. Have you sat down with your selection committee? Yes, we have met. It was a very positive meeting. We put a lot of thought and effort into it. Andre Markgraaff, as convener, has done his homework. He is very professional. We are making sure we cover all our bases. Has there been discussion about performance clauses in your contract? No, I haven't had discussions about my contract. Will you sit down with the assessment committee to discuss expectations? Yes. Performance clauses are not punitive measures. They are there to enhance performance. Performance clauses can be incentive-based, not punishment-based. When you say "performance clause" some people assume you are going backwards, not forwards. The All Blacks will have a heavyweight coaching staff with Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen assisting Graham Henry. SA will be lacking in experience by comparison. Do you think it will be a major drawback? They have a huge positive. But I don't think they know the players in New Zealand as well as my coaching staff know the players in SA. Hansen has been in Wales and Smith at Northampton. What they win on one hand they are going to lose on the other. Why have you never been head coach at a provincial or Super 12 team? People will question your credentials. There are only four Super 12 franchises. I was assistant coach with the Cats in 1996 and the Sharks in 2000. The guys who are coaching Super 12 in other countries are national under-21 coaches as well. Look at Speed Kennedy who coached New South Wales, David Nucifora who coached the Brumbies, Frank Oliver who coached the Highlanders, and Tony Gilbert who coached the Highlanders. I coached against them at under-21 level. My benchmark has been international. I'd love to have coached in the Super 12, but it's all about opportunities. You were part of the management when SA won the Tri-Nations in 1998. Why has there been such a Bok decline since then? All teams go through peaks and troughs. Maybe it's time we turn it into a peak again. It's a new team coming along now. There is no doubt the turnover of coaches is also a factor. What did it feel like when you were dismissed from the Bok management in 1999? What happened there? To be fair, emotions are a big part of rugby. Whatever the reasons, it's not about who is right or wrong. It happened. I suppose, like anything, it teaches you that you have to keep coming back. Things have worked out. Would I have been where I am today had I remained part of that management? It must have been a great disappointment though. Well it was, because I was enjoying it. I was in only one change-room where we had lost and I had been in the changeroom 17 times. It was after that game against England that I wasn't part of it anymore and I missed that. I went to the under-21s and we won that World Cup in 1999. I never saw it as an attitude thing. It happened, and Nick (Mallett) and I are still friends. Not every decision I have made in rugby has made people happy. There are decisions that every coach makes that are difficult. Allister Coetzee said you mentioned his name when you were asked about potential assistants in your interview. What is it about him that you like? He is very positive, is well liked and respected by players and he has coached before. He is meticulous and has a huge passion. When he was told he would be assistant coach, he had tears in his eyes. That shows you how happy he was. You went on a reconnaissance mission to Australia recently. What did you take from that? My recce to the Brumbies was like a tonic. It was amazing that at the same time I was in Canberra I got a call asking whether I'd consider being the national coach. I was so revitalised when I was there, learning things. I told myself that I don't know why we can't do what they are doing. What is it that impressed you so much? One thing I picked up is their whole work ethic. We talk about that a lot, but they really pay attention to detail. What I enjoy about them most is that they think out of the box. They break the whole game into little pieces and practise them over and over. When they put the jigsaw puzzle together, it makes sense. They worry about the little things, which have a huge effect on bigger things. It has been mentioned that they use up to 10 coaches. They empower their management team to help, so they will have a drill that the physiotherapist can oversee. They have skills coaches, a forwards coach, backs coach, and a rugby co-ordinator. They have a speed coach who concentrates on that aspect. The conditioning coach will oversee speed, strength and agility. Gert Smal believes SA needs more specialist coaches. We have a lot of specialists. It's how we use them. The secret is to involve as many as you can on an ad hoc basis. We don't need to get them from overseas? No. I don't think too many guys will be able to teach Hempies du Toit and Henning van Aswegen how to scrum. How far are we off the pace from the top four rugby countries and how quickly can the gap be bridged? Should our expectations be modest? We'd be naive to think we are on a par. We are definitely behind them in terms of the way we have played in the past. But it can change, depending on how successful we are in the Super 12. If teams do well in the Super 12, it adds to the whole Bok build-up. It's a confidence thing. An opponent hammers you in Australia or New Zealand, then you get to Test rugby and, instead of a blue jersey, he is wearing a black jersey. It's very difficult to understand how, with a green jersey, we can beat them when they ran over us three months before. You talk about being positive, but SA Rugby are not assisting your cause by refusing to contract players. How should the players be positive under the circumstances? I've only had the job for a few days, so it's very difficult for me to say who should be contracted. I want a happy team and I appreciate that the players want security, but I also want to be fair to everyone involved. Do I contract the World Cup guys? Do I contract the ones who played in the Tri-Nations? Or do I contract the ones who could become Boks? Whatever route I take, I'll make people unhappy. So the fairest way would be for me to find my feet. Once the Super 12 is under way and players are producing, it's easier to make those decisions. You come across as an easy-going, pleasant person. How do you work with players - in a relaxed atmosphere, or with a schoolmaster style? You should ask the players! I try to be as fair as I can. There aren't grey areas when I'm coaching, which helps with discipline. There are times that I lose my cool, but I try to create a happy environment. So it's not about calling you "Coach" or "Mr White"? They can call me whatever they bloody like, as long as they listen! But I believe players must be mannered. They are ambassadors for their country as well. If you could bring one player from another country to come and play in the Super 12 for a SA side, who would it be? Martin Johnson. He has done it all. A great idea, but it would be very expensive. Which overseas-based SA player would you like to have available for selection? At the selection meeting the feeling was that if a player can add value we will look at him. If there are players in SA who can fill the position we will look at them first. Finally, why should we be optimistic about the future? We have a huge player base. We are passionate about the game. The fact that there is so much in the media about it shows that. And 1995 isn't too far away in the memory banks.
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