News24.com | 'My name doesn't crop up': White dismisses links to Springbok job after Nienaber's shock exit

Jake White. (Photo Mandatory Credit Steve Haag/Gallo Images)

• Jake White believes his name is not on the list of candidates to replace Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber.
• Nienaber will leave the post after Rugby World Cup in France later this year.
• White said that, if approached, he would only consider the Bok job with Bulls shareholders Patrice Motsepe and Johann Rupert's blessing.

Bulls director of rugby Jake White, the name that often pops up when international jobs open, hinted that his was not in consideration for the Springbok head coach role that Jacques Nienaber will soon vacate.

SA Rugby confirmed last weekend that the Springbok head coach, Nienaber, was headed to Irish giants Leinster following the Rugby World Cup in France, which concludes on 28 October.

READ | SA Rugby in no rush to appoint Nienaber's replacement but succession plan in place

But White, who was linked with the England role after the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) fired Eddie Jones last year, said he did not picture his name on SA Rugby's list of candidates.

Nienaber's assistants, Mzwandile Stick and Deon Davids, are said to be hot favourites, while former Lions mentor Johan Ackermann has received backing in some quarters.

"My name doesn't crop up. I've been reading enough articles to see that my name is not on the list and that's maybe a good thing," said White.

"Sometimes it's spooky when your name is on that list because you generally don't get it.

"I'm signed here (at the Bulls) until 2027. I coach a lot of players who I think should be international players and who will become internationals.

"I work for an incredible organisation. I have a great relationship with my board, with Patrice Motsepe and Johann Rupert.

"I wouldn't do anything without ever speaking to them about it. If they felt it was in the best interests of South African rugby that I would be involved in the national setup, I would only do it with their blessing.

"As you've seen, unless you get in there and they want you, there is no use being forced in. Secondly, you've got to get what you think is important for you to run the organisation when it comes to rugby.

"You always want to coach internationally and I'm a South African. But, at the same time, all those things have to be in place and I can't answer that because I'm busy coaching a provincial team."

White famously won the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France with the Boks and walked away from the position after his contract ended at the end of the tournament, with SA Rugby advertising his post mid-tournament.

White did not reapply for the position despite delivering SA's second world title at the time.

Although the circumstances are markedly different, White could not square the circle as to why Nienaber, who won the World Cup in 2019 under Rassie Erasmus, would leave the job.

Nick Mallett | Nienaber departure a loss for SA Rugby, but no shortage of replacement candidates

The Boks are also one of the countries touted to take the Webb Ellis trophy, which would be a historic fourth World Cup.

White, though, pointed to the incredible pull Leinster possessed, who not only have a world-class director of rugby in Leo Cullen but former England coach Stuart Lancaster, too, who is leaving later this year to become director of rugby at French club Racing 92.

"I can't talk on Jacques' behalf, but they're an incredible club," said White, whose team face the team from Dublin at Loftus in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday.

"Lots of good coaches have gone there and move on to become even better. Look what Stuart Lancaster has done post England.

"It's fantastic that a club like that [can attract those coaches]. It's a club that everyone is trying to emulate. Yes, we have the Crusaders in the southern hemisphere and they are an incredible club in their own right.

"But if you look at the Heineken Cup and the kind of players they produce and internationals they have, Leinster's bad year is sometimes as good as some teams' good years."

The seventh-placed Bulls host unbeaten Leinster at 16:05 in Pretoria with the chance to climb as high as fifth pending Munster’s and Connacht’s results in the last round of league matches this weekend.

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