Who's Coaching Who?

[Jehna]

White to quit, eyes England job

October 16, 2007 JAKE White is set to step down as South Africa's national rugby coach if the Springboks triumph in this Saturday's World Cup final against England.

White said the title of world champions had been his ultimate ambition ever since he took over three years ago and he was cool on the idea of being moved upstairs after the tournament.

“When I took over as coach, I said I really wanted to win the World Cup,” he said.

“That was part of my first speech to the guys in 2004 when I got the job. If this group wins, it is the most I can achieve.”

White's contract is due to expire at the end of the year and SA Rugby has already advertised the position which is something of a political hot potato in the post-apartheid era.

The 43-year-old had been expected to reapply for the position but his latest comments are his strongest indication he will turn his back on the Springboks.

Asked about the idea of taking up a new position of director of rugby, White said: “I don't think so. At this point I don't even want to think about it.”

White has been a frequent target of sniping by provincial rugby administrators and has been come under fire from central government over the continued dearth of black players in the team.

He has been widely linked as a possibility of taking over from john Connolly as Australia coach, but in an apparant snub, White told a British newspaper he would love to coach England if the opportunity arose.

White praised the passion and talent of the England team ahead of their meeting at the Stade de France in Paris.

“If England came to me with a proposal to coach them one day, I'd be crazy not to accept it,” he told The Guardian, adding South Africa's and England's rugby culture have much in common.

“There are a huge amount of similarities between England and South Africa. We have both come through tough times and, apart from these last few weeks, they've really not done well since winning the World Cup.

“But England have got massive potential, some real stars and plenty of exciting young players coming through. And there is so much desire and passion in English rugby that I'd have to be tempted.”

It is unlikely though that the job would be offered to White as England's unexpected run to the World Cup final means that coach Brian Ashton will almost certainly be kept on and offered a new contract.

Agence France-Presse

[Jehna]

All Blacks delay Deans decision

From Wayne Smith in Paris
October 16, 2007
AUSTRALIAN rugby chiefs John O'Neill and Pat Howard will talk to Robbie Deans in Paris this week amid growing reports that the New Zealand Rugby Union has deferred until Christmas a decision on who will coach the All Blacks in a bid to frustrate Australia's hopes of securing Deans as the next Wallabies coach.

Deans, six times a Super rugby title-winning coach with the Crusaders, is at the top of the list of contenders for both the Australia and New Zealand jobs.

By delaying its decision when it is well aware the Australian Rugby Union has announced its plans to have the new Wallabies coach appointed by around November 16, the NZRU appears to be attempting to force Deans to pick a side, knowing that as a passionate New Zealander, his heart will be on securing the All Blacks job.

"I know the Kiwis are extending their process through to Christmas and that may well be a ploy to make life difficult for us," O'Neill said yesterday.

"A lot of balls are in the air right now and it's a bit problematical with Robbie. But it's all in the game. I'd do the same thing myself. But Robbie will know his own backyard and he'll know the likelihood of him getting the All Blacks job. One thing is certain, we can't wait until Christmas."

Yet it is possible Deans will not know his own backyard because New Zealand is in such a state of flux that at this stage it is almost impossible to know how the political game will play out.

There have been some suggestions Graham Henry, the man in charge of the side eliminated in the quarter-finals by France, who was eliminated one week later, might actually survive the bloodletting and remain in the job.

It would seem the best case scenario for the team is that present assistant coach Steve Hansen will step up to the head coaching job.

Hansen's greatest political asset, his friendship with NZRU chief executive Steve Tew, could morph into a liability if, as is becoming more likely, the review of the failed All Blacks campaign also implicates the head man in the administration.

Tew was deputy chief executive to the now retired Chris Moller and was across everything the All Blacks did, including Henry's controversial rotation and reconditioning systems.

If he goes or is even compromised, Hansen, already tainted by his role in the Henry coaching triumvirate, could find himself politically isolated. While Deans stands to profit from the review, he is not likely to know its outcome until after the ARU would want an answer on the Wallabies job.

Henry has come under criticism for allowing the All Blacks party to bloat to 57 during the Rugby World Cup, so it is just as well he is not being subjected to the same stern examination as the Wallabies, who kept their group size to 48 in France - 50 if call-up replacements Cameron Shepherd and Morgan Turinui are counted.

Either way, it will be a significantly scaled-down expedition that departs Australia on the next Wallabies tour.

"We're going to reduce the numbers, reduce the entourage," O'Neill promised yesterday.

That almost certainly spells the end of a John Connolly recommendation that forwards coach Michael Foley should be given an offsider to help with the rebuilding of the Australia pack.

"That's not in our plans at this moment," O'Neill said.

Connolly, meanwhile, has urged whoever succeeds him not to cave into the temptation to scale back the Wallabies' game to the negative, play-not-to-lose rugby that was the common characteristic of the four Rugby World Cup semi-finalists.

Although Connolly has come under fire at home for playing a conservative game, his approach is little short of radical on the world stage compared to the anti-rugby approach embraced by Argentina, England and, to a lesser extent, South Africa and even France, traditionally the most unpredictable side in world rugby.

Connolly conceded that "to some extent" it was true the 15-man game Australia and New Zealand attempt to play was unsuited to winning a Rugby World Cup because it meant those sides were taking risks while their opponents were not.

"What really told is how the French team played scared against England," Connolly said.

"They went to the other extreme and didn't want to play at all."
There was nothing surprising about England's ultra-conservative approach to the game, with even their few exciting moments causing their coach Brian Ashton considerable angst.

"We approach each game to win it and adapt to the game," Ashton said.

"We back players to be adaptable, to be able to adapt and this we did last night. In fact, we played too much rugby.

"About 10 minutes into the second half, we were throwing the ball around our 10m line. Why not kick for position and see what France could do with it? Because evidently, last night, they couldn't do much."

But as successful as anti-rugby has been at this tournament, Connolly is convinced the Wallabies do not need to succumb to it.

"No, I don't think so but we have to continually improve our core areas, particularly our scrum and breakdown work. Your core skills are tested at this level," he said.

Connolly conceded the Wallabies had been caught by surprise by how aggressively England had attacked the breakdown during the quarter-final.

"Teams used to concede the breakdown," he said. "We didn't think England would do that. We thought they would go hard at it but we never expected the ferocity they showed there or the way they over-resourced the breakdown (flooding it with five or six forwards against the three or four Australia was committing).

"The message went out. At half-time we talked about it. We talked about little else but I'm not sure the message was getting through. I think the damage was done by that stage."

The Australian