White wants direction; not a national director
14 Mar 2006
Springbok coach Jake White believes the appointment of a national director of rugby will do nothing to improve the situation in South Africa.
While most, including me, are screaming that such an appointment be made, White said he would prefer to operate free of any director as he felt it would only complicate and not simplify any national coaching position.
“People are looking for answers in the wrong place. The answer to our problems is not the appointment of a national director of rugby. The answer is consistency in coaching appointments at a national and regional level and a succession plan for each person, agreed to by the board of the SA Rugby Union,” White told Keo.co.za, adding that he had reservations about a national director of rugby appointment because of all the politics involved in creating such a position.
“The less interference to the Bok side the better,” said White. “And I think a national director of rugby would want the Springboks to fall under his job responsibility. I don’t think this is right. We currently have a general manager of national teams in former Stormers and Welsh international Andy Marinos. He does a fantastic job, but his focus is very much on the administration around the team. He has nothing to do with the rugby side of it and that is the way I, as a national coach, would prefer it. I know others disagree.”
White said that it was outrageous to be calling for the heads of Kobus van der Merwe and Frans Ludeke, to name but two of the country’s five regional coaches.
“Take Frans as an example. He has lost four of his first five matches, but the Cats have lost something like 44 of their last 49 matches in the competition. In this time they used Frans, Tim Lane and a coaching trio of Chester Williams, Rassie Erasmus and Brendan Venter. Getting rid of the coach isn’t the answer.
“Where’s Chester? So much went into his development in 2004 and 2005 and now he hasn’t got a team to coach. Where’s Brendan? He was very good at London Irish but he’s not coaching? What would have happened to Rassie if the Cheetahs were not a new entity in the Super 14? Would he also have been sacked.
“In Cape Town it is the same. What good would it do to be sacking Kobus (van der Merwe) and Gary (Gold) after one season? It is short-term knee-jerk reaction. As I said in an earlier interview, if there was a rugby blueprint that embraced the national coach and the five regional coaches and put in place a three-to-five year plan and succession plan, we wouldn’t have coaches coaching from one week to the next wondering if this week is their last. It is not right.”
White also said it was crucial that the top 140 players were identified between himself and the five regional coaches.
“We don’t have a draft system. We don’t have proper identification. There are some very good players running around in the Vodacom Cup that could be adding value to our Super 14 squads. But no one is talking. No one is acting on what is a crisis situation for us. The first five weeks of the competition have not been good to us. All the coaches and myself need to be discussing how it can be improved, not on a casual basis, but in a constructive way to find solutions.”
White said it distressed him that his All Blacks counterpart Graham Henry (and his fellow national coaches) were spending a day a week with the five New Zealand franchises. At this Henry interacts with the regional coach and those players in the national frame. It also gives him a chance to see first hand players outside of the national framework.
“We simply don’t have that kind of working relationship in our rugby,” said White. “I’ve popped in at the odd union for a casual visit. Earlier in the year I indicated that I would like to play a more active role during the competition, in terms of interacting with the coaches and adding value to their campaigns. Nothing materialised.”
White, after five weeks of Super 14 woe, is frustrated. He believes he could be making a difference. Instead he is far removed from the South African Super 14 scene.
“Now is the time to fix it,” he says. “We can’t keep on plodding along like this.”
265 Comments
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14 Mar 2006, 17:15 pm
Too many Chiefs & not enough Indians.
14 Mar 2006, 17:16 pm
boychie if that was the case i be in capetown ;]
14 Mar 2006, 17:17 pm
Boychie
but my point is…is that the Lions/Cats aren’t exactly a retreating pack are they. How can you critisize Hougaard for playing behind a strong pack when Pretorius also has one?
14 Mar 2006, 17:18 pm
StP,
you are a more balanced bulls supporter, who doesn’t blow his own team’s horing, but we will have to disagree on Schalk and JW, both have done very well for the boks.
14 Mar 2006, 17:18 pm
Rednik
….and yet you are the one with the name?
14 Mar 2006, 17:18 pm
14 Mar 2006, 17:20 pm
no, the cats pack is awful, no go-forward ball, it is a retreating pack. the whole side needs to be sent to Siberia.
14 Mar 2006, 17:20 pm
StP, point taken. Let`s agree to disagree on this one?
14 Mar 2006, 17:21 pm
Cab
don’t include me with the lot that had a go at Skalk
He is a legend and a one of a sort in SA rugby, nontheless, his form is a concern.
As for JW, I posted something further up (130)that is my official stance on him.
14 Mar 2006, 17:22 pm
14 Mar 2006, 17:24 pm
Picking a team on form now and Hougard would play. There no doubt in my mind who else is good enough?
14 Mar 2006, 17:24 pm
Hougaard is definitely starting to show flashes of potential. I would put him slightly ahead of Peter Grant at this stage, but still not ready for Springbok selection. His premature selection for the RWC2003 set him back a good couple of years. Poor kid, I reckon getting KO’ed by Breyton at Kamp Staaldraad in front of his Bulls mates probably contributed to the prolonged loss of playing confidence that he showed after that. But he’s rebuilding, and may yet have something to offer the Boks by next year’s RWC. Then again, so might Peter Grant.
14 Mar 2006, 17:25 pm
Drunkmonkey
Let’s just wait and see how he plays at sea level and overseas.
14 Mar 2006, 17:27 pm
Cab
Watching the Cats pack is like watching the CC games of the past with slow chubby forwards with only two functions, scrum & hold a jumper.
The visiting opposition seem to have players able to get to their defensive lines, clean out rucks & support their ball players with disgusting ease.
I really don’t doubt the physical fitness & desire to play rugby for most of them but thats where it all stops. Grant Esterhuizen for example always looks like a willing CC player, until he meets the opposition ‘Nuff said.
14 Mar 2006, 17:29 pm
bladdy kamp draadtrek was another stupidity, i mean what numbskull actually thought it was a good idea for them to donner one another, why didn’t they donner the other team? oh yes they did that too, in fact they didn’t stop donnering one another on the field by concusting each other…
domdrolle.
14 Mar 2006, 17:29 pm
Drunkmonkey, Jaco is good enough. But the cupboard is pretty empty when it comes to no.10, I will agree.
14 Mar 2006, 17:30 pm
yip sarky, terrible.
14 Mar 2006, 17:30 pm
cab, we all know the name of the neanderthal man who thought it was a good idea to make his players bliksem each other.
14 Mar 2006, 17:31 pm
StP
None of the scrum halves in RSA is playing that well now but I reckon Ruan Pienaar would be an absolute treat behind the Bulls pack, whether serving Hougaard or Steyn. FdP thinks & moves too slowly right now & Rick J is way off form.
14 Mar 2006, 17:34 pm
sarky,I dunno why but SA scrumhalves never seem to retain their top form for longer than a year. We have seen this with De Kock, Bolla, FdP, Ricky… Jake might as well make use of Ruan this year, ’cause by next year he’ll have slowed down and someone else will be the new sensation. Maybe Paul Delport, Tertius Carse or Sandile Nxumalo. Oh ja, Falie Oelschig is looking pretty decent as well, I would say.
14 Mar 2006, 17:34 pm
ya, but was it actually rudi’s idea? i thought it was those macho security okes, who were shooting bullets over their heads while the boks were kakking themselves kaalgat in the lake.
Besides, Rudi seemed a decent bloke, at least when he played for the cats. Perhaps his ears ruined his image.
14 Mar 2006, 17:36 pm
St P , you are clearly misinformed on the most supporters – the Stormers have consistently over the Super series boasted the biggest “gate” and supporters (bums on seat) in SA. (SANZAR figures releaed end of Series 2005) They also sell the most replica jerseys, with Sharks in 2nd place.
Reckon the Bulls could be catching up with the wave of success an support enjoyed recently.But for the moment it’s still the Stormers.
14 Mar 2006, 17:40 pm
JW seemed to feel vulnerable after the departure of BvR, understandably.
He also knows that in the year ahead, he will have to field four(4) quota players which might -but not necessarily would – hamper his 2006 Boks campaign
Small advice: curb your public statements, get rid of Gert Smal and Coetzee, stop ignoring talant such as Brits and Watson.
14 Mar 2006, 17:41 pm
princess, do you own one of those “Fokkie Bulle, Maak die Stormers almal Bokke” t-shirts?
14 Mar 2006, 17:45 pm
Onlooker, Watson cannot realistically be picked for the Boks right now. Yes, he is having a good season, but it’s his first one for a long time. Also he is competing for a place with Schalk. Personally, after noting that Luke can step and swerve and avoid tackles better than the whole Stormers backline, I’m starting to think he may be the solution at inside centre.
As for Schalk Brits, maybe he should so something about his line-out throwing before we start pencolling him into the Bok starting line-up.
14 Mar 2006, 17:46 pm
Princess
While I couldn’t argue ……could we at least say that the Bulls are on the up and this is because of their recent success.
Likewise, Ellis Park is empty because the Cats have always been poor.But I’m willing to bet that seasons 1999/2000 saw them have an increased attendence record because they where playing pretty well and winning?
Watch the Stormers lose more home games and watch Newlands empty out next season.
It’s difficult to assess anything withregards to the Sharks……going to the rugby at the Shark tank is like a night out, so I can’t say if they go to the games to watch the game or for the social afterwards?
14 Mar 2006, 17:53 pm
St.P whatever cheap drugs your on get off them.
Are you trying to tell me that the Loftus faithful dont have a jol after the game.
No let me guess its like a frippin “Nagmal” after the game you all sit and have bible and sip tea….more like “brantea” and beat the kak out of each other the gardener then nob the maid.
Dont be silly git and try and compare fans!
14 Mar 2006, 17:58 pm
St P, fully agree with you , success breeds that all that and long may it last for the Bulls. A few years ago Loftus looked like a funeral parlour. I reckon one could walk into any car dealer in Pretoria at the moment and get a car sponsored for a Bulls player whilst it will be hellava hard to do that in CT at present! Stormers were hellava successfull and clever off the field when they launched their brand and brought in a host of new (a lot of women) supporters. In the early days they were “the” team when they had the “sexy” image. Super rugby lends itself to be marketed as that kind of brand.I beleive the Bulls could do this in their marketing as well – they just needs to ove away from “staunch old fashioned, bulldozer image” (these are my thoughts) Yours???
14 Mar 2006, 18:00 pm
fuzzy,
come now, don’t pretend you’ve never tried knobbing the maid.
14 Mar 2006, 18:01 pm
Princess of course team succes brings the crouds !!
14 Mar 2006, 18:02 pm
Fuzzybear
Booooooo
No comparison.
Numbnuts
14 Mar 2006, 18:04 pm
Cab, how considerate. I dont have a maid1
Yes a few barmaids in Britanny, but not in Pretoria !
14 Mar 2006, 18:06 pm
Come again?
Your point is as clear as the Jukskei in flood Jondood.
14 Mar 2006, 18:14 pm
i take it you’re also based in europe, still at work late in the day?
14 Mar 2006, 18:17 pm
Fuzzybear, I was responding to St P’s earlier comment of the Bulls having the best gate ! Go and read the comment before being sarcastic
14 Mar 2006, 18:22 pm
No in Joburg for my sins, this place is the pits!
14 Mar 2006, 18:28 pm
come on johies is great, cape town is probably prettier and you have the beatch and the mountain, but you okes smoke to much weed, its too slow-paced.
14 Mar 2006, 18:28 pm
The best gate, as in the best place you walk in?
My god woman, were talking about gates these days….WOW.
How many people have fallen out the stands at Loftus. Thats gotta be a huge crowd pleaser hay?
14 Mar 2006, 18:30 pm
Cab, I watched a taxi driver, minibus, take a metal pole to a lady and her two kids in BMW in the traffic!
We smoke weed sure, better than crack and gunpowder mate.
Were are you?
14 Mar 2006, 18:31 pm
another reason why you need the beerhelmets, protect you from falling supporters and you can poke piet van zyl if he’s blocking your view.
14 Mar 2006, 18:33 pm
ja you’re right no need for that, perhaps they could do with some weed.
in london, killing time…
14 Mar 2006, 18:36 pm
Done my time in London.
Got my house in CT and moving back in three months.
Im off take it easy cab.
14 Mar 2006, 18:37 pm
cool, cheers
14 Mar 2006, 18:38 pm
Peace at last.
14 Mar 2006, 18:54 pm
What craziness is possessing our inbred counterparts to believe that a Bulls team that couldn’t win the currie cup can now win the Super 14, and moreso, the RWC next year?! Perhaps a less bigoted viewpoint would help SA rugby as a whole…
14 Mar 2006, 19:06 pm
my word ive never heard so mutch bullshit in my life honestly, look at the bok setup… go ahead
now with the forwards there lies at least the entire bulls pack who have been around long enough( im not talking of the inexperinced props)
matfield, cronje, botha, botha, wannernberg, rossow…..bands( on the fringes ) now add, habana, and du preez already uve got 8 of 22 in a run on squad, rite so can u tell me wat 22 divided by 5(all sa teams s14) is, thats rite 4…..the bulls have double that reprasentative in the run on squad of every test the boks play, rite now see if u still want to complain when i prove this to u…..can any1 find a better fetcher in the country than schalk burger( irb player of the yr) rite no so hes in, wat about a better number 8 than juan smith……highly doubtful hes leadership and strength are second to none for the cheetahs and he played better than any1 towards the end of last season…wat about van niekerk, he may not start but id definetly have him in my 22 with wannernberd and cronje….any objections yet, thought not..
ok now to john smit, undoubtably a strong presence on the field and developing into a fine captain, his performance in europe last yr reminded me of the great days of teichman, this guy has the goods, and wait his backup….is a bulls player surprise surpise
..on to the backline than
i challenge any1 in the country to find me a better fullback than montgomey…its impossible hes long boot and smart kicks are so crucial when combined with his experience, solid defence and flare when he chooses to run, plus hes the kicker…
scrummy…i believe even bulls fans were prasing ricky januarie last yr, and 1 game does not make him a bad player, excellent on attack and solid on defence, great delivery, keep in mind that du preez is still in the squad, also ruaan pienaar is pressing for selection and in my books rates as the most exciting backline player in the country, can step his way out of any situation
flyhalf, always going to be a tough choice but on current form id say, vd westhuizen will be in the squad with pretorius ( mr consistent) and the UNTIL RECENTLY much improved derick hougaard…another bulls player
rite than moving on…..i challenge an muppit here to find me a better attacking player than juan de villiers ( habana exlcuded) go on….cant do it hah, so hes an automatic selection in the midfield along with jaque fourie, the midfield pairing every1 praised last yr, the best two centres for attack and unpredictability in the country……..they not too shabby on defence either,
habana( bulls) awesome…..nuff said
rite how many fools here recall the wonders of breyton paulse, or the countless tries chavanga scored on debut last yr, or the talents of henno mentz, both ndunganes, conrad jantes etc etc…so much speed and talent ont he wing their jake can take his pick…
any reason to continue bitching about the lack of ******* bulls players in this squad….for ***** sake john smit is maturing into the best captain weve had since teichman the boks are winning, playing well winning tournaments….second in the world….and all u ******* morons can do is complain about the number of blue bulls in the squad, well now ur no better than the politicians focing selection issues….im a cats fan and i can see they play poorly but did any1 stop and look that springbok representatives in each team are way above their teammates when it comes to skill levels on attach and defence, thats the only thing giving these unions excitement, leave jake the **** alone or well have another mallet debocle.
stop ******* turning this country into the provincial iceage we suffered during apartheid
tossers…
14 Mar 2006, 19:40 pm
Bokfan hold your horses.
In the last 22 only Vic, bakkies, habana,cronje, gary, were in the squad. If I miss any one please forgive me, don’t call me names.
Bull fans complain mostly of the ignorance of the selectors (read JW) towards constant performances of Guys like Akona, Roets and Gary.(to be the no1 hooker. he only replaced Smit once). these 3 players are rated by fans and experts besides bull fans.
Your praises of john smit is a bit overboared (spelling). Do you owe the guy money or are you related or What? A couple of weeks ago there was a dancing program on one of the channels on TV, where celebritys (spelling?) dances with proffesionals. James Dalton also was there. The presenter asked him if he really fancy’s his chances of becoming a proffesional dancer. He repleid, “well if John Smit is the best hooker, then i can become SA’s best dancer” lol
btw just as a thought, during the apartheis era the boks had a better win/loss ratio than in the post apartheid era.
just a thought, don’t call me a racist now or any other names because I don’t agree with you.
14 Mar 2006, 19:41 pm
nicely put…although gaffie’s still the supreme 10 in SA. And perhaps we should be looking for a hooker that doesn’t cost us at least 3 costly turnovers in any given game. The sad truth is that while most of the bulls team are GOOD, in the rest of SA is a player better than their bull counterpart in every position (not counting the locks and habanero).
14 Mar 2006, 19:58 pm
shozalozza, dont get me worng i completely understand the bulls are the only team in the country doing anything, and i support their chances of a super 14 title, however i disagree with the fact that a major proportion of the bok side should reflect that…
benjamin is right in the fact that the bull counterpart to the springbok player, and particularly the backline….dont cut it, olivier and nel are young and inexperienced, and post world cup they could be great players, but for now rationale must prevail, hougaard i believe is the best flyhalf in the country atm, and roets to be honest lacks a spark in attack, very one dimensional.
i apolagise if i offended u, however i do not understand the provincialism rather than proffesionalism that overides the super unions in this country…in particular the supporters
jake white is a phenominal coach and any1 who disagrees doesnt know buggerall about this great game…how can one expect him to select players based upon a TEAM performance…
gary botha was selected last yr, and will be in the squad this yr, as will akona, keep in mind he is also not reached his full potential yet, it is my true belief that the team that played last yrs tri nations was better than the team that won it, and major in roads will be made in france where south africa are sterne favorites for a final berth, and at least a semi berth…
the current bok side has finally reached a balance of consistency, youth and experience…and look at the results, a tri nations tilte in whites first yr and the second best team in the world, a team that wins 70 odd percent of there matches, in comparrisson to the 40 percent of the strauli era…
u may not agree with me shosaloza, but thats ur option i for one back jake white and his selection policy, and look forward to more success for the boks under his reign
14 Mar 2006, 20:10 pm
Only a bulls supporter would thinks Gary Botha is better then John Smit
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