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After seeing the evidence, Jake White gives verdict on Springboks missing Rugby Championship
By Ian Cameron
Former Springboks coach Jake White has given his verdict on whether or not the South African Rugby Union should have sent a Springboks side to the 2020 Rugby Championship.
This weekend Dave Rennie's Wallabies hung on to claim a famous 24-22 win over the All Blacks in Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. That defeat aside, Ian Foster's All Blacks have looked very much like the dominant force of old, freshly injected with a raft of new, exciting talent against the team.
Currently in charge at the Bulls franchise in SA, Jake White has coached around the globe and famously led South Africa to a Rugby World Cup win in 2007, and he thinks it would have been wrong to put an unprepared Springboks side up against 'that quality and intensity'.
Writing in a column for TheXV.rugby about captaincy, White took time in a few paragraphs at the end to give his two cents on the matter.
"Finally, as a footnote, I want to touch on the decision not to send the Springboks to Australia for the Rugby Championship.
"Having watched the standard of the rugby between Australia and New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup series, it would have been unfair for us as world champions and Rugby Championship winners to have been exposed to that quality and intensity without proper preparation.
"As the No1 team in the world, there is a target on us. If New Zealand and Australia had been in our position, they would have done the same. The top tennis players and top golfers will not enter a Major without proper preparations.
"After seven months of no rugby, to expect a group of players to just assemble is unrealistic. And no coach-captain combination would relish that scenario."
White is overseeing a revival at the Bull Blues, who this weekend consolidated their position at the top of the Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked standings by defeating the Emirates Lions by 30-25 in a thrilling derby.
You can read Jake Whites's full column and many more great pieces of rugby journalism over at TheXV.rugby.
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Latest Comments
Get world rugby to buy a few Islands in the Mediterranean. Name them Rugby Island #1, #2, #3 etc. All teams are based there all season and as the knockouts progress, losers go home for a few months rest. Sell the TV rights to any and all.
Have an open ballot/lottery each week to fly fans out to fill the stadiums. They get to enter the draw if they pay their taxes and avoid crime which would encourage good social engagement from rugby supporters as responsible citizens. The school kids get in the draw if they are applying themselves at school and reaching their potential.
Or maybe there is some magic way to prioritise both domestic rugby and international rugby by having the same players playing for 12 months of the year...
Go to commentsPerhaps he would have been better off going under the knife earlier, rather than travelling to Europe to hold tackle bags.
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