White in pound seat
22 Jun 2006
Jake White will on Friday be given the guarantee of coaching the Springboks until the 2009 Lions series.
The SA Rugby Union board met in Cape Town on Thursday and a media briefing is scheduled for Friday afternoon at the Springbok team hotel. It is as this press conference where White’s contract extension will be formally announced.
Keo.co.za has learned that a failure to commit long-term to White could have meant White leaving South Africa in the next week to take up an overseas position.
Keo.co.za has it on good authority that White was considering an overseas option, three times the value of his current contract. The Board was made aware of the offer some time ago and White’s agent Craig Livingstone has been locked in negotiations about the coach’s future in the last two weeks.
The Board were given an ultimatum: Commit to White now for the next three years or lose him before the start of the Tri nations.
Several senior Bok players are believed to want clarity on White’s future before committing to a national contract post the 2007 World Cup. This has forced the Board to act now and either back White or part company with him.
They have decided to back him regardless of the outcome of next year’s World Cup and to ensure there is continuity until 2009 under the same coach.
Keo.co.za’s information is that the Rugby Football Union wanted to poach White and were prepared to commit to him as early as next week.
White, who won the Tri nations title in his first year in charge, has a 70 percent international win record and his Bok team is unbeaten in 13 tests at home since 2004, the 30-all draw in Durban against France last year breaking the winning sequence.
In this time the Boks have beaten the All Blacks (twice), Australia (three times), France, Scotland (twice), Ireland (twice) and Wales.
White’s record abroad is less impressive with the Boks having lost twice to the All Blacks, twice to Australia and once to England, France and Ireland respectively.
White’s only major overseas success came against Australia in Perth last year.
260 Comments
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23 Jun 2006, 09:20 am
Paws,
Jake will take us to the semis for sure.
From there its close, so close.
23 Jun 2006, 09:24 am
Big
Jaco will improve, Eddie is playing well, Shimmie gets no chances, De wet is there for specific games and due to the fact that we currently have injuries.
Sephaka is very much a reserve player and not first choice.
Agree on sollie and Cronje, Perhaps Cronje will be useful in the RWC if conditions dictate.
For the most part Jake has great players onboard and ones that he can work with and that have buy in which is important.
23 Jun 2006, 09:32 am
snoop .. the semis are not good enogh .. we have been so shellshocked by springbokke rugby in the past that we are willing just to settle for second best .. that is the wrong mentality to have .. we must want to be No1 and wc champs.
And I agree with #250, ofcourse the players will want the coach who keeps them in the team ..
23 Jun 2006, 09:35 am
jake has greater player not on board than some he has on-board…
jaci will improve, what kak, how long does he want, he is kak and i certainly dont wanna use the springbok jersey to see if we can improve a useless player into a semi-average one…
eddie playing well? when, i musta missed it… the ‘mighty’ scots kept him in tact and he played average at best… well, my salty…
the one place i must eat my words is pakslae’s great performances…
with guys like aj, butch, tim d, spies, luke and schalk b in the loop but not on the pitch, its a joke…
23 Jun 2006, 09:39 am
I have this bad feeling that JW elusion act is going to start unraveling this weekend ..
he always deflects the boks bad overseas record with the home record ..
23 Jun 2006, 09:44 am
Big
Jaco played out of position away from Boks, only his 2nd game back at fly half.
Yep, you missed Eddie playing well. Eddie was prop when we won the tri nations. You forget?
Ol steddie will be around for a while so just dry your eyes.
Butch injured
Schalk injured
Spies, gaining experience (will be in the mix)
Aj – well, we will see, he is unlucky as there are good locks and flanks
Tim D ….. no comment
So what exactly is your point?
23 Jun 2006, 09:55 am
jaco is very kak any (position),
eddie is kak,
luke is great
schalk b is probably our best hooker,
aj is better than cronje etc
tim d is better than solly
bar habana spies and barrit is better than any other current bacline players…
butch and ruan is playing this w-end…
thats my point…
by the way, did i mention that jaco is very very kak?!
23 Jun 2006, 10:52 am
Butch cannot just fall back into boks, hence was injured and making a comeback?
Luke is a machine
John our best hooker/captain, sooner you deal with it the better.
AJ is a machine and will feature
tim and solly can vok off
barritt is a baby
spies will feature … getting experience etc
Ruan needs experience
Eddie is so kak he features in a winning tri nations and is part of the most experienced front row we have ever had. counts for something
Jaco was fly half when the boks scored the most tries, think about that.
23 Jun 2006, 10:54 am
Paws
once in the semis its anyones game.
Lets not settle for second best but lets also be realistic.
we will make the semis and therefore a good shot at the final.
23 Jun 2006, 11:49 am
John is NOT the best hooker .. and JW overvalues the importance of captancy. The sooner people open there eye and see how lazy he is on the field of play the better. The reason he is there is his 116kg and the fact that he is JW blue eye boy.
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