The White right

When Jake White became the Springbok coach I remember reading an article, in which he was quoted, and remarking to a colleague: “At last; someone who agrees with me.”

White stated he was unsatisfied with the fitness or physical conditioning of South African rugby players and that players under him would be expected to make a massive improvement.

This struck a chord with me as, having repeatedly watched the Springbok team and local Super 12 sides fall away in the last quarter of matches, I had long suspected that our teams were not as fit as they should be.

Naturally those involved with these teams disagreed and I know White’s assessment of our players’ fitness, coming as it did at the end of the Super 12, was not well-received by players, coaches and, especially, fitness advisors in the regional set-ups.

Yet White has been proved to be right. One of the crucial aspects of the Springboks’ unexpected Tri-Nations victory was that they were stronger in those crucial last few minutes – especially while playing with 14 men against the Wallabies.

The turnaround White has engineered is nothing short of phenomenal when ranged against the woes of “Geogate”, “Kamp Staaldraad” and a desultory exit from last year’s Rugby World Cup and the obvious question is: what is it that he has done?

The answer is so simple as to cause one to wonder why more coaches don’t follow the formula – going as it does to the underlying principles one would find in any successful organisation; be it a business, a government department or a sports team.

Key among these is White’s experience – he has been a rugby coach for 23 years – and his infectious enthusiasm. Then add in his honesty in dealing with his various “clients”, especially the players, and you already have the basis of a sound enterprise because sincerity engenders trust and loyalty.

Given the unhappy times most of the players had been through White’s candour was probably the single most important ingredient in his being able to inspire them because for the first time in a while they understood what was required, how they fitted into the plan, and what the goals were.

This is not alchemy for the concept of happy people being crucial to successful organisations has been shown in countless management studies, but it took White’s own attributes of integrity and basic honesty to meld all the incompatible elements.

His experience gave him the ability to make sound selections and added to that was a fervent belief in those in whom he put his trust. His reward was that the like of Os du Randt, Schalk Burger, Percy Montogomery, Jaco van der Westhuyzen, Eddie Andrews and Bolla Conradie, to a greater or less extent, repaying the coach’s confidence in them.

And the one thing runs into the other. White was sure of who he wanted, he was clear on what he expected of them and this built security and a mood of a team working towards a single goal. It sounds like a cliché, but for once everyone understood the game plan.

White understood (apart from a lack of fitness) the maladies hurting the performance of the Springboks – ball retention for instance – and went to work restoring the basic attributes that South African rugby has always been known for.

The natural talent, strength and size of our players has long been recognised and our enthusiasm for tackling legendary; White built on these ingrained strengths and got the players to believe in themselves again.

In addition he has also been adept at conflict resolution, for instance disciplining and then getting the best out of Victor Matfield, while all the other skills he brought to the task will be found in any manual on good management.

That White has been able to win the Tri-Nations so early in what, to my mind at least, seemed an impossible rehabilitation of Springbok rugby is phenomenal. This success will give him the ability to drive his players to even greater heights of commitment – provided he is not hamstrung by a system that now sends them back into the control of their provinces – and get the team to a point where they are no longer fixing things and unlearning bad habits but once again setting the tone.

Under White the Springboks have quickly caught up and his next task will be to keep the players striving forward, cognizant what it took to taste Tri-Nations success and to have a sense of pragmatism as to their own abilities and the fact that they are still a long way short of what they could be.

In this regard it is good to hear White talk of the recent victory being a stepping stone rather than an end and hopefully his reward will be a similar sense of realism from Sarfu which will result in him having his term as coach extended.

White’s honesty and loyalty gained the desired performance from the players and Sarfu need to do the same for him.