White - 'I won't stay if my players don't'
'As a coach in SA, you play to survive on a weekly basis'
Springbok coach Jake White has once again pledged his commitment to South African rugby – but he wants the assurance of being able to call upon his big-name players after the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
White on Friday confirmed his loyalty to the Bok team – when news first emerged about his possible contract extension until 2009, coupled with rumours of job offers from abroad – and he reiterated his stance at Saturday's post-match press conference,
"My loyalties lie with the Springbok team," he declared after his team's 26-36 loss to France at Newlands.
He added: "I spoke to [France coach] Bernard [Laporte] before the game and he used the word 'ridiculous' to describe the fact that I seem to play week to week. As a coach in South Africa, you play to survive on a weekly basis."
The Bok boss, however, is concerned that his top players could be tempted with overseas offers if there is any uncertainty over their coach's future after the World Cup.
"I have a contract until the World Cup next year and a lot of the regular players want to know what will go on after that," he added.
"I'm one of those guys who like to look ahead, and the question is whether I want to stay until the Lions tour in 2009.
"If I'm honest with myself, I don't want to stay for 2009 if my players won't."
Contractual issues aside, White was grilled in the post-match press conference for his reluctance to pick Western Province captain Luke Watson (especially now that Schalk Burger is out injured), with the Bok coaching having said last week that all 15 players in his team could fetch and that he did not believe in playing a specialist 'fetcher'.
"If Monty's conversion kick had gone over (for Brent Russell's second-half try) it would've put us in a superb position and we would have gone on to win and would not have needed a fetcher," he said.
"There are other ways of looking at the game. Obviously crucial things happened in the game – the penalty that Jaco (van der Westhuyzen) gave away to (Serge) Betsen, the kick that hit the upright and the penalty just before half-time.
"Had we got those calls we probably would have won the Test."
Regular eighthman Joe van Niekerk had a useful enough match in the No.6 shirt, but the loose trio of Van Niekerk, Juan Smith (No.7) and Pedrie Wannenburg (No.8) did not have the same effect as the French loosies, with Rémy Martin having an excellent match as a replacement for the injured Thierry Dusautoir, who limped off with a knee injury in the 14th minute.
"There's no doubt in my mind about the importance of continuity of selection," added White.
"The players who normally play for me would never have given up a 23-11 lead."
White is currently without first-choice players Schalk Burger (neck), Bakkies Botha (Achilles), Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie (both ribs), but the harsh reality is that too many balls were turned over, the SA scrum was weak and crucial tackles were missed on Saturday.
There can be no excuses made for that…
By Howard Kahn
