Jake: Just do your job
World Cup-winning former Springbok coach Jake White on Friday again showed just why he was able to turn the bumbling Brumbies into play-off contenders.
And his comments on Australian TV also revealed why Australian franchises like the Waratahs and Western Force have come apart at the seams – the players have too much say.
The former Bok mentor – who took South Africa from sixth in the world, after the 2003 World Cup, to first and helped them claim the Webb Ellis trophy in 2007 – has done a major repair job on the Brumbies.
After finishing 10th and 11th in the previous two years, the Brumbies came within a whisker of qualifying for this year's play-offs – losing out to both the Reds (in the Australian conference) and Sharks (global standings) by a whisker.
But the improvements were there for all to see – a steely determination among the players, a disciplined team who bought into the coach's vision.
However, at the Waratahs and Force the players have virtually taken over the running of the teams – with Force coach Richard Graham being forced to walk the plank mid-season after the players threw their toys and this week Tahs prop Benn Robinson suggested the players should "have a say" in who will take over as head coach in Sydney from Michael Foley.
White's response was typical of his no-nonsense approach to the game.
He effectively told the Waratahs captain to shut up and get on with playing the game.
"I'd say just focus on being a player, Benn, and concentrate on the things that you need to concentrate on," White told the ABC's Front Row Rugby.
"When you join a company you can't then ask the person interviewing you whether you can have a say in who the CEO is or the chairman of the group are.
"You join a company and you put your head down and do what you have to."
* Meanwhile Waratahs Chief Executive Jason Allen confirmed that they have "started the process" of finding a new coach to replace Foley.
However, he disagrees with White and said the players will have some input in the appointment.
"I'm hoping to catch up with 'Robbo' [Benn Robinson] this week, when he gets a gap in his training," Allen told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"I've already spoken to the team and Al Baxter, who is their player representative on the board. So we're getting to the bottom of how they'd like to be engaged."
He admitted that Michael Cheika is on their wishlist.
"Michael Cheika is absolutely of interest to our organisation," he told the SMH.
Allen also admitted that the franchise's financial situation is not as rosy as it should be either.
"It's been a tough year," he told the newspaper, adding: "We're looking at a small loss this year.
"We've still got a lot of actual activity in the market. We do a lot of 'train with the team' activities, and they're pretty big revenue contributors at this time of the year.
"Our current forecast would be a very small loss.
"However, we will still be paying our licence fee to the NSWRU, which is really important because our job, at the end of the day, is to fund the community game in NSW. They will not miss out on their funding."
