Former Springbok coach Jake White believes the warning lights are flickering for Bok rugby.
“The first problem, in capital letters, is defence,” White said on Monday.
“We started a rush defence in 2004 and were leaders in world rugby. Other countries followed us. South Africa conceded four tries in just 25 minutes in a critical Test on Saturday.
“I believe South African rugby should stick to what works for them, but also be innovative. I don’t see any subtle changes to our attacking play. It’s good to have experience, but you also have to come up with fresh ideas.”
White is also concerned that the players have too much power in the current Bok set-up. He believes that some players’ form have been negatively affected because their attention is not fully on rugby.
“There is a fine line between a player-driven system and player empowerment. The players are possibly in a comfort zone,” said White.
“I see players in TV ads and hear about business interests. As far as player empowerment is concerned, it’s good to give players an input into the game plan, but the coach still has to provide leadership and make difficult decisions.”
White believes the Boks are in danger of being reactive to the situation.
He believes the opportunity was there to be pro-active after last year’s Tri-Nations and blood new players on the European tour of 2009.
“Not a single difficult decision has been made in the last three years. It’s difficult to change because it forces you to make difficult decisions,” said White.
“The perception is there that South Africa did not adapt their way of playing this year, but the statistics show that they kicked a lot less than last year. We did adapt.
“New Zealand are kicking more, but are still scoring four tries per game. We have to stick to the principles that work for us because we don’t want to be New Zealand, Australia, Wales or Fiji.”
White is also concerned about the confidence that Australia’s young players will gain from Saturday’s win.
“Players like Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor will start believing that they can win against anybody if they beat John Smit and Victor Matfield in South Africa.”
White believes the Boks are still getting value from Smit’s captaincy.
“He will always add value and has a calming influence on the other players.”
People who compare the Boks’ struggles this year to that of 2006 are making a big mistake according to White.
“Australia are now in a similar position to where South Africa were back then. The Wallaby coach (Robbie Deans) is one game away from turning the entire situation in his favour,” said White.
“He understands how to build a team and the average age is quite low. There are young guys like Will Genia, David Pocock and the Faingaa brothers that won the junior world championship together.
“Deans also has to get players like Dan Vickerman, James Horwill, Ben Alexander, Wycliff Palu, Scott Higginbotham, Stirling Mortlock and Digby Ioane back. It’s similar to 2006 when we were without a number of key players.”
Courtesy Stephen Nell for sport24
“The first problem, in capital letters, is defence,”
We all saw it and we all say it, nothing new.
PdeV said the players did not execute the plan, who takes the blame?
Nienaber who all reckon will be the top expert solution failed in the last 3 matches, quite spectacularly against a fast back line of the young Lions team.
“I believe South African rugby should stick to what works for them, but also be innovative. I don’t see any subtle changes to our attacking play. It’s good to have experience, but you also have to come up with fresh ideas.”
Says the man who needed Eddie Jones. And what fresh ideas did we have in the RWC Final?
“There is a fine line between a player-driven system and player empowerment. The players are possibly in a comfort zone,” said White.
OK i agree with this statement.
More might follow. 😆
Fromthebottomoftheruck says:
September 6th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
But putting Jake back in charge would be like putting Clive Woodward in charge of the Lions. Seemed like a great idea until the All Blacks stomped all over them. Jake is yesterdays man.
Superbul what have you got against the man? He’s a brilliant coach. I know you know it, now just admit it 🙂
@ rugbybal:
You dont have enough time, but go google with this entry Jake White 2006, and you will see the country was just as much on fire about him like now against Peter.
The one thing we will immediately miss when PdeV is fired is the peace from the sports ministry. I would hate it to go through the Kompela / Stofile show again. We all know it will happen again. Rather work with Pdv but get him to beleve we want him but also want him to get help.
@ superBul:
Ja Super it’s a tough one. I bought into Jake’s plan for the world cup and when I was not happy with certain selections he always gave his side of the story on Boot @ All or Super rugby or wherever. He always makes rugby sense. PDV on the other hand, I hardly get what he is on about. Nothing personal, but I truly believe that Jake is a better coach and the best chance we have for the world cup. I am sure we can keep the politicians of our backs for 1 year. After that give it to AC.
But if GG and DM don’t go. I will not back PDV anymore.
Jake is history and so should PDV be.
Everybody looks to solve the problem by talking about selection, fitness, tired players and game strategy.
Getting the above right will not make us world beaters.
They ignore the crucial elements of technique and skill set where we are now behind, and are bigger problems to solve than those issues mentioned above.
Even more important than all of this is that people just don’t seem to realize that a rugby team has a heartbeat and a soul and these elements have to be in perfect working order.
The man who directs this is the coach and he does it often by his sheer prescence, in that the players have respect for him and believe in his vision so that they play for him.
This cannot be pretended.
It is either there or not there.
No amount of covering up by the players or the coaches can make the soul and heartbeat of the team work.
You either have it or you don’t.
Gentlemen the reality is Heyneke Meyer is not going to get the job, accept it.
We may get lucky and they appoint a care taker coach, in that case for SARUt he logical choice would be Jake white, he knows how to win a world cup.
Otherwise aacept the fact that PDV will remain in charge and everything will continue to go for a ball of Sh1t.
@ biltongbek:
Exactly right Biltong!!
What must happen is that Goue Gerrie and Tricky Dicky must be kicked out ASAP!!!!! keep Divvy there but get specialists in as Assistant coaches
@ Tripples:
why keep PDV?
@ tight head:
Tighthead, we had it during the Tri Nations last year, and the B&I Lions there was strong evidence that it was there. What happened to that belief in the coach in the space of a year?
11@ Lion4ever:
What happened
Loss to Ireland
Loss to France
Three losses to NZ
Two losses to Australia
Plus no eveidence of evolution in the way we had to adapt to the laws.
Plus the antics in the media.
@ Lion4ever:
I don’t think it was ever there.
We need to remember that these players are world class professionals and have to protect their living.
They have to make things work.
They are not in a position to criticise the coach, if they want to keep their job.
Winning also can paper over some cracks.
We now have a dangerous cocktail of pressure on players and coach and no matter what they say, these players are asking themselves if they are being coached and managed correctly even if the coach is not asking himself those questions.
@ Tripples:
If the man cannot do the job, why keep him?
Unless he is just “window dressing”
Anyhow it would never work, as the new coach or coaches would have to stamp their authority on the situation.
@ Lion4ever: Nothing to do with him being a good or bad coach back then…PDV inherrited a very strong bok side which was on a roll back then.
What h@ bos_otter:
How do we explain 2008? Possibly a worse season than 2010? The 2009 happened, Tri Nations, B&I Lions, but lousy EOYT. This year our best win was against France.
I am not being a PDV apologist, but his overall record is very similar to JW’s at this stage.
Unfortunately, as much as we would like to get rid of him, he is here to stay till after the WC. Hopefully he will see what we all are seeing and bring in a HM or Eddie Jones
or even AC, but he must just leave JM alone for now.
@ Lion4ever:
Just for the record….I don’t blame PDV solely for this mess, but his reluctance to appoint a defence coach isn’t helping us much. Apart from that, his current assistant coaches are a bunch of deadbeats.
I can’t explain 2008, but he did inherrit a strong team that has just won the worl cup in 2007…and I know Jake didn’t have a great record either, but that doesn’t justify sticking with a coach just because he’s predecessor has been worse that him.
Think of it this way…you appointed him as manager in your business ….the bloke keeps on screwing up and don’t deliver…will you keep him just because he is slightly better than the previous bloke, or do you keep searching for someone better? By this I’m not saying we should appoint someone new every year…that would cause a lot of instability in any business, but he’s had his chance in my opinion. The fact that he can’t keep his mouth shut and seem to think he can do and say as he pleases, whether he means it well or not, doesn’t help. All the negative publicity isn’t doing us any favours.
to me, he is becoming a liability which we can no longer afford.
Annyway, just my 2 cents and again…I don’t have all the answers…replacing him will cause a media orgy which we also can’t afford
@ tight head:
In an ideal world, who would you want coaching, and assisting the coach, the Boks to next years RWC?
@ Loosehead:
In an ideal world I would have Mc Geechan as the manager, Deans as the coach and assisted by Heyneke, Mitchell and Plumtree!!
19@ tight head:
I have no problem with those you mention…. but we have people available who can take over at the drop of a hat…. Heyneke Meyer is one such individual.
Geech, Deans, Mitchell & Plumtree are otherwise occupied… Deans with the Wallabies, Mitchell with the Lions, Plum with the Sharks… forget them, even in a perfect world, for now!
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