The achievement, secured by epic home victories over New Zealand and Australia, must be judged against the smouldering ruins of Rudolf Straeuli’s tenure: disgraced in the 2003 Rugby World Cup quarter-finals after barely raising a gallop against New Zealand, riven by allegations of racism in the wake of the Geo Cronje/Quinton Davids furore, hamstrung by resentment over black quotas and humiliated by nude training camp revelations, South Africa had plumbed the depths.
No surprise, then, that White has been feted like a national saviour since the Springboks beat Australia a week ago to take the title. The 2004 Tri-Nations triumph has been a huge tonic in a sports-mad country, and White has moved from one corporate glad-handing session to the next, including golf days (he has a single-figure handicap) and breakfast Q&As.
White is only 40 but, after playing school and club rugby on the flank, he recognised that coaching was his forte and has already amassed 20 years of experience. He learnt his trade as a physical education teacher at his old school, Jeppe Boys, in Johannesburg. His sharpness as a tactical analyst brought him to the attention of Nick Mallett, who made him a Springbok assistant coach in an unbeaten 17-match run stretching from August 1997 to December 1998.
White has also coached the Springbok under-21s to two World Cup victories, in 1999 (as assistant coach) and 2002, and believes he owes a debt to the inside knowledge that he had on the youngsters to get the Boks back on track. “Little dogs become big dogs,” he says. “If you get the foundation right, things become easier.”
What makes White’s impact even more remarkable is that he was not included in the South African Rugby Football Union’s initial shortlist to replace Straeuli. However, when nobody picked up the poisoned chalice, White was offered the job. He grabbed it. “In my wildest dreams I never thought I’d coach them,” he says, “as it always seems to go to an ex-Bok.”
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His judgment has been flawless. White was convinced that if he put the best of the under-21 classes of 1999 and 2002 together with experienced heads such as Os du Randt, De Wet Barry, Breyton Paulse and Percy Montgomery, he could find the balance to get his new team off to a winning start in home Tests against Ireland and Wales. “A lot of the young guys were not getting a fair shout, despite being in teams that had beaten New Zealand and Australia at under-21 level,” White says. “I knew we had players better than our track record suggested, and it was very frustrating because we had to watch guys that they had beaten going on to beat us at full international level.”
The introduction of hooker John Smit as captain — he had been the winning under-21 skipper in 1999 — alongside young players such as Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez, Jean de Villiers and Gerrie Britz, worked a treat. At the other end of the spectrum, White played hardball with the union, persuading it to lift a ban on overseas-based players, including Montgomery and fly-half Jaco van der Westhuyzen, whom he considered essential. Not only were the tourists dispatched, but the foundations were laid for the Tri-Nations.
White also set about tackling the arrogance, racial preconceptions and slack work ethic of the squad he had inherited. His easy-going manner masks his determination, as one senior player discovered when he was admonished for not getting his feet off a table when Songezo Nayo, then managing director of the union, came into a room.
When roused, White is fiery. A few months ago he got into a row with a reporter and invited him to “step outside” after it turned personal. Although the argument was defused, the wise money was on White: he follows a strict gym regime and can bench-press on even terms with most prop forwards.
Another player to get a dressing down was star lock Victor Matfield. White thought he was complacent so took him aside in an airport lounge to tell him: “We’re the sixth best team in the world, so let’s not get cocky until we’re No 1.” He showed, by dropping Matfield, that he is no respecter of reputations. Restored for the Tri-Nations decider against Australia, Matfield was man of the match.
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At the same time as cutting egos down to size, the new coach has had to tackle the potentially incendiary issues of race and quotas. His credo is straightforward: “If you are honest and open, and explain to players why they have been picked and what their role is, it doesn’t matter if they are English, Afrikaner, black or coloured; they don’t see you through suspicious eyes.”
Despite the open secret that each Springbok starting squad of 22 must include five “non-white” players, White refuses to accept that a quota system has been imposed on him. “To me, a quota is if you have to pick the ice cream seller outside the ground. In this Springbok set-up you will only be picked if you are good enough. But people have to appreciate that we live in a different environment to others. We need to make a genuine attempt to give people equality of opportunity.”
White’s actions back his words. In 2002, Ashwin Willemse, a mixed-race winger, asked White for help. He thought his provincial contract with Boland was going to be cut, so White negotiated a better deal for him with the Lions (formerly Transvaal). Last season Willemse was named South African Player of the Year.
What is non-negotiable to White is a fierce work ethic. “There’s no free ride for anybody. We represent a rugby tradition and history of the highest standard. Our players must never just go through the motions.”
White has been quick to weld a squad that will pose a huge threat on their tour of Britain and Ireland this autumn. The only motions they are likely to make are forward — at full pelt.