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Jake White to call on old partner Eddie Jones to revive ACT Brumbies glory
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226045851015
NEW Brumbies coach Jake White said he would be crazy not to tap into the expertise of his close friend Eddie Jones and former Wallabies captain George Gregan when he begins the task of rebuilding the former Super Rugby trendsetters.
White, who guided the Springboks to the 2007 World Cup, was named yesterday as the Brumbies coach for the next four seasons, replacing interim coach Tony Rea, who will stay on for the remainder of the season.
White, speaking to The Australian from his native South Africa, said he was delighted to be taking over the Brumbies, a side he acknowledged had heavily influenced his own development as a coach.
"The thing about the Brumbies was that they were not only leaders in Super Rugby, they were leaders in world rugby," White said. "International coaches, international teams, international players all watched the Brumbies to see what they came up with because they were always innovative.
"Not just this season but in the past couple of years, the Brumbies have lost that point of difference. They've got to go back to what they were good at and then they can build on that."
The glittering, new Brumbies superstructure might well have a hard Springboks edge to it, with White insisting that while he is intent on coaching an open and attractive brand of rugby in Canberra, there was no reason not to weld on to the ACT side some of the characteristics he brought out in the South African team from 2004-07.
The hard-nosed Springboks approach White can bring with him, but resurrecting the old Brumbies magic might take some input from the men who made it happen.
In particular, White hopes to bring in Jones - the 2001 Super 12-winning coach turned Wallabies coach who he recruited in 2007 to help apply the finishing touches to the Springboks - to act as an adviser.
"I'm going to be definitely using Eddie as a consultant," White said. "He's an ex-Brumbies coach, he knows exactly what was good for the Brumbies. If you've got all that intellectual capital, that knowledge of what the Brumbies were like, to not use it would be crazy.
"A guy like George Gregan, I'm going to definitely use. He's been there and done that." White also plans to tap into such other Brumbies greats as Steve Larkham (now an assistant coach), Joe Roff and Jeremy Paul.
Jones said from Japan last night he would be pleased to help out White, but only on a short-term basis. "My future is not in Australia," Jones said.
"Looking at the Brumbies now, you can't tell it's the Brumbies. They play a very orthodox game. They have lost their courage. The first thing you need for courage is discipline and they'll get that from Jake, who with the Boks brought discipline to a very undisciplined team."
White has no plans to clean out the current coaching staff of Larkham, Justin Harrison and Marco Caputo, nor, indeed, the support staff, nor the playing ranks.
"It's not a case of coming in and firing everybody," he said. "It's a case of making everybody understand that they have a job to do to get the Brumbies back where we want them, on top of Super Rugby."
White, while regretful that Wallabies Matt Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Mitchell Chapman were departing the club, hoped the Brumbies' other senior players, starting with Australia captain Rocky Elsom, would stay on.
Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan confirmed yesterday the club would continue its efforts to lure Western Force star James O'Connor to Canberra, with White set to ring him over the next few days.
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