Jake White is a World Cup winner, but he reacted to defeat in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship like it was his first rodeo, writes ZELIM NEL.
South Africa’s most decorated coach, White is synonymous with winning. He famously resurrected the Springboks in 2004 to clinch a Tri-Nations championship en route to the world title in 2007, and a long line of victories followed him to the Brumbies, Sharks, Montpellier and now the Bulls, which is part of the reason I tipped the Bulls to beat the Stormers in the URC final at Cape Town Stadium.
My confidence in this prediction grew with each day leading up to the final as the Stormers trumpeted their excitement in the press while the Bulls laid low. It took just two minutes for Harold Vorster to break through the Stormers’ line for a 7-0 lead and, as the Bulls continued to dominate proceedings, I imagined the trophy curator at Loftus Versfeld fretting over where he might find space in a cluttered cabinet to showcase the URC prize.
But the Bulls squandered their control of the first half and the Stormers made them pay for it. Though White may have a point about the quality of officiating on the day, his public reaction to the result belied a world-class coach. Unfortunately, he isn’t the only one guilty of losing perspective in recent times.
The Springboks head into the 2022 season with South Africa at the top of the rugby pile, but you would be excused for wondering how the hell we got here, judging by the actions of the country’s leading brains.
While Rassie Erasmus was integral to the seismic switch from Super Rugby to the URC, the country’s rugby chief showed a startling lack of awareness when he initially laughed off the likes of Evan Roos and Marcell Coetzee, the indisputable stars of the Stormers and Bulls’ incredible recovery from a diabolical start to the new competition.
Bok selection is Rassie’s prerogative, and players who don’t fit the Bok plan or culture, regardless of their quality, will rightfully not be included. But snubbing the heroes of this year’s best rugby news story at the time was a proverbial fart in the elevator.
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The next challenger for the Dilly Cup was Gert Smal. The Bulls’ Currie Cup coach reacted petulantly to losing a home semi-final against Griquas by slamming the Currie Cup in its current guise as farcical and suggested the trophy should be retired to a museum.
Indeed, the Currie Cup is no longer the world-renowned domestic championship that showcased Springboks in their provincial colours. But to suggest the current iteration is not worthy of the trophy is to forget that for the first 100 years, the Currie Cup excluded much of the country’s best rugby talent.
Within 24 hours of Gert’s brain fade, Jake added his name to the list of contenders with a not-so-subtle rant about Irish referee Andrew Brace.
Regardless of the ref, the Bulls know they left plenty of points on the field, but even if Jake’s case against Brace is full of merit, his response to a disappointing loss squandered an opportunity for the Bulls to be gracious after a rare playoff defeat in what will be remembered as a milestone moment in the history of South African rugby.
Mark Keohane was correct in his Sunday Times column: “This should have been a case of introspection and not emotional implosion. White should have taken it on the chin and acknowledged they weren’t good enough on the night.
Black mark for White: Bulls coach dropped ball after URC defeat
“There is no crime in being beaten by a better side… I know White was crushed by the result… but I did expect a coach of his pedigree to show more class in acknowledging the achievements of John Dobson and his coaching staff.”
And then there was a late charge from Jacques Nienaber, who on Tuesday made it known that only one or two of the players contesting Saturday’s historic Currie Cup final between Griquas and the Pumas are on his Top 100 list.
Again, it’s not the validity of Nienaber’s player evaluation that is in question but the timing of his comments. Minnows reaching the Currie Cup final is a huge win for a country that is perennially plundered by cash-flush European suitors.
This Currie Cup final proves to the next generation of players that you don’t have to be contracted to a URC union to make a name for yourself. Hopefully, the next Bakkies Botha chooses to play his way up from a smaller union when he’s offered a Pro D2 contract with Oyonnax, though the chances will have been greatly reduced by Nienaber effectively showing his middle finger to that tier of players.
There are few coaches in the world to rival Rassie’s rugby acumen, and if winning is the criterion, Jake ranks among the very best coaches on the planet. Jacques has a master’s degree in defence and Gert’s long coaching career has taken him from East London to Pretoria via Rovigo, Dublin and Tokyo.
While they each have a keen understanding of how to cut corners in the race to the scoreboard, they would do well to show a little more appreciation for what’s going on outside the stadium.
