Reason to feel more bullish

New Springbok coach Jake White was not always the most popular person with the Sharks when he served there in the 2000 season as assistant to Hugh Reece-Edwards.

In fact, there was a time when some Natal players resorted to calling him unflattering names behind his back as there was a perception that he had worked out and ended the career of a couple of Sharks stalwarts.

It was this sentiment that is said to have gone against White when players were canvassed about the possibility of him taking over from Reece-Edwards at the end of a Super 12 season where the Sharks came last.

But while that level of emotion against White may be disturbing to some, it is not so to me. On the contrary, White's demand for excellence when it comes to conditioning is one of the reasons I agree with John Robbie that there may be reason to feel a little more bullish about the Springbok prospects.

White has clear and very strong views on several issues. Not all the players will feel comfortable with White's appointment, but unlike under the previous management, they should at least know where they stand. And when White talks of conditioning and fitness, you can bet it will mean something a lot more scientific and modern than the Staaldraad mentality evidenced towards the end of Rudolf Straeuli's reign as coach.

The ninth post-isolation Springbok coach will definitely not be shy to blood younger players, many of whom he considers superior athletes. Having worked so closely with them, he knows what he is talking about when he talks of the immense raw talent that he just feels needs a bit of guidance in order to transfer success on the junior stage to the senior one.

He is also right when he says that if players like top rated All Black Chris Jack can taste defeat against South Africa in an international under-21 final, there is no reason why he cannot have the same experience at senior level. The young players in this country have beaten their junior All Black counterparts in some big games, so maybe the hold that the Kiwis appear to have over us at the moment is, as White says, in the mind.

Unlike his direct predecessors, White should be far more decisive in making the calls that need to be made. You can take it as read that he will also have a more clear idea of what type of game he wants to play and he will have the guts to employ that game.

While White has said that he would like to ensure that South African rugby's traditional strengths are not compromised and he will be making sure that his Boks do the simple things well, he has also said that there are areas where South Africa are falling behind the rest of the world. He wants to change that.

Under White it is unlikely you will see either conservative selections or conservative strategy, and during the World Cup he repeatedly stated his view that the Boks needed to be more attacking both in their selection and in the way they played the game. Had he been coach, Brent Russell would certainly have been at the World Cup, as would some of the other game-breakers that were left behind.

Regular readers of this column may by now be wondering why I am suddenly so upbeat after being so critical of the process employed to choose the new coach.

The answer to that is that I still believe that Sarfu got it wrong in the way they arrived at the successor to Straeuli.

White was undeniably the most healthy fish caught in the smaller net that was used, but if you use a bigger net you have a much better chance of catching a bigger fish. The decision makers should have broadened the scope of their search and my view, stated after South Africa's World Cup exit, that Nick Mallett was the best man for the job still stands.

But given the four man shortlist drawn up last December, and where South African rugby appeared to be heading at that stage, the selection of White was a pleasant surprise. At least he has extensive 15-man coaching experience, something that should be a non-negotiable at this level.

It is also pointless carping on about Mallett because even if Sarfu had approached him, it is unlikely he would have taken the job now that he has seen where South African rugby is headed under new Sarfu president Brian van Rooyen. Remember that Mallett wrote a newspaper column after the World Cup saying that he would never serve as long as the 14 provincial presidents wielded so much influence in the running of the game, a power which has since been substantially increased under Van Rooyen's leadership.

Which brings me to a few reasons why the enthusiasm for White's appointment should be tempered.

Firstly, it would be naive to think that the Springbok coach could be successful operating in a vacuum. White is in a sense fortunate in that at least his first year of being Springbok coach will coincide with the country's return to a strength versus strength Currie Cup.

But from next season it will be back to a 14 team competition, with its mismatches and sub-standard contests. That simply has to have an impact on player readiness to play test rugby, it has to have an impact on test performances.

Having the 14 provincial presidents running the game, as argued in previous columns, also means that it will be a case of province first and Springboks second, or even last. As long as that situation continues, and to borrow a phrase from Morne du Plessis, national decisions are based on provincial interests, the national coach is up against it.

In short, there will be little prospect of Springbok success, regardless of who coaches them, as long as there is mismanagement at the top.

It also remains to be seen how White's relationship with Andre Markgraaff, who has been installed as the new selection convenor, works out. Markgraaff is a good choice as selector, but the coach must have the deciding vote in selection as it is he who ultimately decides how the game must be approached and the opposition tackled.

If the power of the coaching organiser (why has this position not been properly advertised?) and the selection convenor is checked so that the coach can have relative autonomy, then White could just live up to his promise of bringing a positive vibe back to Springbok rugby.