Durban - The sudden departure of Jake White as Sharks director of rugby has led to informed sources confirming there was growing discord between White and his back-room staff as well as with the players.
While White may not technically have been “fired” by the board of the Sharks, it is believed he was no longer heading a harmonious environment.
It is understood that Gary Gold, the former Springbok assistant coach under Peter de Villiers, could be the front runner to replace White as the Super Rugby coach, while former All Blacks coach John Mitchell could also be in the running.
White’s allegedly dictatorial coaching style won him few friends in the Shark Tank and it has been agreed that he will step down after just one year in the job. He has already returned to his home in Cape Town.
White took the Sharks to the Super Rugby semi-finals but stepped back from the head coaching role in the Currie Cup, where his Super Rugby assistants, Brad Macleod-Henderson, Sean Everitt and Paul Anthony, have been running the show, while White has taken on a mentoring role with the Sharks’ age-group teams.
The aforementioned trio are still learning the trade at the highest level and it is understood that in next year’s Super Rugby competition they will once again be assistants under a new head coach.
Sharks chief executive John Smit will be determined to get it right this time and appoint a coach who will take the Sharks into a new era in which they will play a brand of rugby that will win matches and also put bums on seats at Kings Park.
Under White, the Sharks won 11 of 16 pool matches and won a quarter-final against the Highlanders before being thumped in the semi-final by the Crusaders, but while White got results, the conservative style of play was not popular with many fans.
In just over a year Sharks players have been subjected to four different styles of play from four different coaches - John Plumtree, Brendan Venter, White and Macleod-Henderson - with a fifth believed to be on the way, presumably for the 2015 Super Rugby campaign.
Smit has high regard for Venter, who coached him at Saracens a few years back. But while Venter agreed to help Smit out last year after Plumtree’s sacking, it was always an interim measure. Venter promptly won the Currie Cup and was hugely popular among players with his innovative game plans.
However, Venter said after the Currie Cup win at Newlands the time had come to turn his focus to his medical practice in Cape Town and he was not available to return to Kings Park.
Gold is a highly experienced coach, renowned for the enterprising play of the teams he has headed, including leading English club Bath. He is now finishing up a coaching stint in Japan and is known to be interested in returning to South Africa to coach a Super Rugby franchise.
Gold was Smit’s forwards coach at the Springboks from 2008 to 2011.
Interestingly, former Sharks captain and legendary Springbok lock Mark Andrews reckons the Sharks should look no further than Mitchell.
“I think he would be the ideal man for the job,” Andrews said. “He has a great rugby brain, has coached all over the world and now calls Durban his home. He is on our doorstep and has shown he still loves coaching by getting involved in local varsity rugby earlier this year.”
Andrews says the attractive and effective rugby being played by the Lions in the Currie Cup is the legacy of Mitchell, who taught Lions coach Johan Ackermann the ropes when he was Mitchell’s assistant at Ellis Park.
White said that although he was leaving Durban sooner than anticipated, he was satisfied that his short-term goals had been achieved, chiefly finishing in the top four of Super Rugby, putting coaching structures in place and aiding coaches’ development.
“I was offered an exciting challenge in a great rugby city,” said White. “I believe we put together some excellent structures under new chief executive John Smit, who was always supportive. I’m closing this chapter in my life as I believe it is the right time to do so. I want to thank and acknowledge the Sharks for my time spent with the team.”
Smit, in turn, thanked White for his efforts.
“Jake and I have known each other a long time and were very frank in our discussions regarding this Sharks opportunity back in 2013. Jake was excited to implement change as well as be involved with South Africa’s most talented squad, but from the outset stated his ambition to be on the international stage again and I was all too happy to have him for however long we could. What he has achieved for us in such a short time is incredible and our staff and players have learnt a huge amount.”
The Mercury