Jake White Spending Spree

Rugby World Cup-winning coach Jake White has embarked on the biggest modern-era South African spending splurge as he seeks to make the Bulls a powerhouse again.

The Pretoria team were the dominant southern hemisphere franchise between 2007 and 2010, winning three of the four Super Rugby competitions during that period.

Loftus Versfeld, the 50,000-seat fortress of the Bulls in a leafy suburb, was the scene of the many great triumphs, notably a 61-17 thrashing of the Chiefs in the 2009 final.

The ground was regularly packed as adoring supporters turned up to watch stars like flyhalf Derick Hougaard, scrumhalf Fourie du Preez and locks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha.

It was a very different story this year in Super Rugby, however, before the coronavirus pandemic brought the five-nation competition to a close after just seven rounds.

A Bulls side shorn of stars like playmaker Handre Pollard, who moved abroad after helping South Africa win the World Cup a third time last November, lost five of six matches.

The packed stands at Loftus were a distant memory with only a few thousand hard-core supporters turning up to witness one inept display after another.

It left the three-time champions 12th in the overall standings and hopes of a top-eight finish and a quarter-finals slot already gone less than halfway through the regular season.

Something had to give and coach Pote Human was fired, paving the way for the 'Mr Fixit' of rugby, White, to take control last March and immediately embark on a signing spree.

"We need to rebuild a winning culture at Loftus," White, 56, told AFP. "Winning matches will bring thousands of supporters back.

"It will not be an easy task as the team has been struggling for some time, but we are up for it."

White has hired a flood of experienced players, many of them former Springboks who opted to return home from Europe and Japan and spend the twilight of their careers in Pretoria.

The backs who were bought include Gio Aplon and Travis Ismaeil, both past 30 but with a lot to still offer, according to White, who coached the 2007 World Cup-winning Springboks.

To bolster the pack he wooed World Cup winner Duane Vermeulen back to South Africa after the forward spent a year cashing in on the riches of Japanese club rugby.

Arno Botha, Nizaam Carr, Sintu Manjezi, Marcel van der Merwe and Walt Steenkamp have also been signed to create a virtual new Bulls pack for the post-coronavirus pandemic era.

It was not one-way traffic toward the Loftus changing rooms though with backs Warrick Gelant, Johnny Kotze, Manie Libbok, Divan Rossouw and Rosko Specman leaving.

South Africa-born former Scotland loose forward Josh Strauss was the latest departee after failing to make an impact in Super Rugby this season.

There were also coaching changes, notably the hiring of Russell Winter and the recall of former Bulls Super Rugby handler Nollis Marais.

Once dismissed by a rival coach as nothing more than a "video operator at training sessions", White has succeeded wherever he has worked.

Assisted by wily Australian Eddie Jones, he guided the Springboks to 2007 World Cup glory with a 15-6 final triumph over England in Paris.

Told to reapply for his national team post by officials he did not click with, White refused and Peter de Villiers became the first black coach of the Springboks.

He later dramatically improved the Super Rugby fortunes of the Brumbies in Australia and the Sharks in his homeland, taking both to the knockout stages.

White won the second-tier European Rugby Challenge Cup with French outfit Montpellier and later coached Toyota Verblitz in Japan.

When Verblitz hired outgoing New Zealand coach Steve Hansen this year, White came home and after talks with PRO14 strugglers the Southern Kings, agreed to join the Bulls.

Forwards coach Winter is convinced White can make the Bulls a force to reckon with again in Super Rugby.

"We should never be shy of touting the South African style of play. When I coach forwards, I want them to play to their strengths -- a brutal, confrontational type of game.

"South African forwards are naturally attuned to that way of playing and it can work so well for us."

No rugby has been played in South Africa since mid-March because of the Covid-19 crisis and the most optimistic date for a resumption of matches is August.

SA Rugby hopes to stage a domestic Super Rugby competition, similar to the one already underway in New Zealand, with Australia set to follow suit in July.

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He has not done much recruitment of backline players, and they are weaker than before Jake White arrived with the loss of Specman, Gelant and Libbock - all skilful players. He has the geriatric Aplon who can be much more than an on-field backline coach.

Morne Shit Stain is still involved. 

Has Jake White already dealt his hand and confirmed he is going to be play Bulls 10 man rugby. Will he be a Meyer clone that will be dependent on building a bigger pack like the Bulls 2010 team.

Meyer is the most tactically versatile coach of Bull and Bok rugby history, building an all round team - though Ludeke must be credited for evolving the team after the ELVs and even keeping the side punching above its weight as it lost huge numbers of stars.

Jake is a master coach. He has an unmatched record in leaving every organisation he is involved in, in better condition than when he arrived. 

Those who spout "10 man Bulls" of the Meyer era onwards have no understanding of how those Bulls sides played. They also never correctly identify the many different approaches and styles of those sides. The 2009 side, which is most criticised for "kicking" andd supposed 10 man rugby had a line break to try ratio of 2:1, one of the most efficient teams in Super rugby history.

There is a team that mirrors another team that does play bland rugby. 10 man rugby...

AO

Meyer was the most useless coach the Springboks ever had - evidence he was fired by Stade Francais due to gross incompetence.   He never had a game plan and when it came to backline play it was grossly poor.  In his first year he played Steyn 8 times at flyhalf - in 2013 it was in all 12 tests and in 2014 in 3 tests.   Steyn was a totally clueless flyhalf sabotaging Springbok backline play.   

By 2014 he started using Pollard and nearly killed him with a game plan that neutralizes backline play.   Du Preez was part of the problem.  If one analyzes the backline performances under Meyer it was Du Preez passing 70% of the ball to players other than the flyhalf in the WC  in 2015 and effectively only passed balls to Pollard to kick - a game the Bulls used under Meyer in 2004 and 2005,

White is a good coach with serious backline deficiencies.   At the Brumbies  he did well with a  proper backline coach.   In the case of both the Sharks and Montpellier he was deficient in respect of backline play and using F Steyn at flyhalf and center never helped any team in backline performance. Even though he won the 2007 WC as coach  - the game plan had been sub-standard and the problem was that even though the forwards did not match the English, the backline produced nothing of consequence in the  final.

Comparing the 2007 lucky win final with 2019 is like comparing day and night when it comes to all-round backline performances.   In all respects the Springbok forwards were supreme and their backline players were much more dangerous and effective even scoring two tries - in which forwards also played  key roles. 

White will do quite well for the Bulls - he has ample financial back-up from the majority owners and will be able to get players he needs for his purpose.   However, I would love to se an improvement in backline coaching as well.                                

Deleted 

Well, here are the forwards that won the 2007 Super Rugby title: 

1. Gurthro Steenkamp
2. Gary Botha
3. Rayno Gerber
4. Bakkies Botha
5. Victor Matfield
6. Pedrie Wannenburg
7. Wikus van Heerden
8. Pierre Spies

Van Heerden was vastly under rated...Wannenburg was solid and Spies...not overrated, but he never really realized his potential...I won't say "nothing special"...I'd say that was a way better than average back row...all Boks...87 tests between the 3 of them...

And you are right, I can't even recal Rayno Gerber.

...but recognized his face immediately. 

Spies realized most of his potential, but that was after 2007. He was actually a terrible defender, a fundamentally flawed player in 2006 and 2007. His game expanded tremendously from 2008 onwards, and he left Kankowski well behind - Kan was actually the better player in 2007 by some margin. 

The Bulls pack was good, I actually rated Steenkamp very highly, we seldom lost with him. However, many on here argued against me, saying he was a flat loafer and a key failing in the teams he featured in. Wannenburg was criticised for being dumb muscle throughout the Jake years. Van Heerden was respected for his courage and leadership, but never taken seriously. 

Contrast this with the Shark pack: Carstens, Smit, BJ Botha, Ackermann, Muller, Botes, AJ Venter, Kankowski. That with Bismarck, Beast, Britz, Albert and Skinstad on the bench, to the Bull's Rossouw. 

Spies was an immensely strong and secure carrier, and a guaranteed generator of front foot ball. His only weakness was that he couldn't or wouldn't pass. That would have freed up his game, as he was essentially bombarded wby defenders. You couldn't do that to Big Joe, as one offload/pass would bust your defence wide open - that happened against New Zealand in 2004 with a Joubert try. 

I saw something with Spies in a game  that I have not seen  in any other player -going down with the ball without being tackled.   The famous lyric remains - Spies was built like Tarzan and played rugby like Jane.   

He was very good when he hit the scene - but after he encountered blood problems and could not go to the 2007 WC - he never was the same and got a worse player every year he played,   By 2012-13 he was a total softie and  not up to standard.

No great loss and  not remembered as a test class player.         

Pre-2008 Spies was useless. The infamous loss to Ireland in 2006? His three missed tackles lead to tries. He blew the game. He was a Damian. A couple of runs against England in 2007's friendlies is what gave the impression to the misguided plastics that he was a god. He played his very best rugby from 2009 to 2011. Guaranteed front foot ball, secure carrying and a solid defender.

As for players falling to the ground to reset before or without contact? I have already shown you Steph and Damian doing this very thing you buffoon. 

You're getting worse by the second. 

AO

It just did not happen in the cases of he World Player of 2019 and the top center in the WC Final of that year. Lies won't change that. 

“ In 2007 he hit the scene and was a very good player. He was injured before the world cup ”

Are saying an injury kept him out of the RWC?

Ceradyne

It was as far as I can remember it was not an injury that kept Spies out of the WC.   He inherited  a health problem from his father - namely clotting of his blood and his father died of a heart attack when he w as relatively young.

Before the WC it was found that Spies had the same problem  and he was out as a result.    

It was blot clotting that kept Spies out of the world cup.
When he was at his best he was good scoring some great individual tries , but he was mostly just a ball carrier. His work rate of the ball is low. 

I know Spies scored a lot of tries, the game was serious big and fast for an 8 was actually an 11 converted to an 8. That kind of showed it as he had terrible hands and didn't have the temperament in the tight exchanges. 

That said he was a pretty impressive athlete and better than the 8s we had at the time. 

The amount of knock ons he made or poor passes was frighting and killed most of our momentum. 

Danie Rossouw was our 8 for the World Cup, can't really remember if he had good hands but good ball carrier and covered a lot of ground and could play, 5,4,7 and 8. Really valuable player to have in the team. 

I think RG Snyman can probably also cover 8, given his skill set and how good his in drawing players and passing 

Spies never killed most of our momentum. It was Schalk who used to knock on at scrums, at 8 that was a problem. Spies was verry secure, he just didn't look for the pass. He was blinkered, like Jean. 

Actually, his turnovers per test, considering his heavy carries, often absorbing up to three defenders most carries, he was excellent. He was lethal in space, but it took a considerable amount of resources to deny him that space, which opened the game for the Boks when he generated go-forward ball. The only thing he lack was distribution, this would have made him a dual threat, and that would have given him more space. It's important to be versatile. Spies was certainly better than Flopsy and Mopsy in the current side.

Dreaming again AO of something that has not really happened.   I thought that Spies had promise - but he never was really up to it on test level.   The decline was progressive and augmented by poor coaching - both Meyer and Ludeke were useless - so they may have been able to get something more out of Spies than they actually did.  

"Flopsy and Mopsy" ?....World Player of the Year 2019 and captain of the current Rugby World Champions? Those 2?

He won a popularity contest. Nothing more. 17th ranked flank in Super rugby 2019, ranked 29th of all top 30 SA ball carriers in Super rugby 2019, with barely 1.7m per carry. Carried that form into the test season with less than 1m more per carry. Can't pass, can't read play on defence (running into the wrong man against our old foe on the biggest stage and repeatedly busting our defence wide open.

Yes, facts dear boy. Facts. Two solid tests in his test career thus far. A liability. 

Player of the Year is a popularity award. Nothing more. Steph wasn't the best player in the team, much less world. Every piece of data supports that fact. You can't hold your own Lister, because all you fo is try to out mouth what you don't like hearing. The Pingu response. And just as hard to take seriously. 

AO

Just a question - how do you manage to get everything wrong on every player or coach on this site and support you crazy comments with things like a popularity award.   Of there was there would have been a public input request - not a determination of suitability by 8 rugby experts.  

Since 2000 there has been a system where all-round player competence is determined by experts.  In that time there were only three SA players who got the World Player of the Year Award - Burger in 2004, Habana in 2007 and Du Toit in 2019.  all three were and in the case of DuToit are top class players.

Your problem is you live in a dream world where you think about players on a make-believe and prejudice basis without any real evaluation of performances of coaches and players.     What you actually come up is so stupid it is hilarious. LMAO     

When did I ever "get it wrong"? What are his carry stats? What are his misses tackles? Turnovers? Defenders beaten? Or all of those defensive Engagements where he blows his assignment completely (not in stats)? You have nothing to defend your position. You never have, and none of the Steph fangirls here have ever been able to. 

The media. Foreigners don't give a damn, they give the Jews Saffers Barrabus Steph, because that's what they want. Still, you cannot assert any phase of the game where he excels. It amuses me. You strain so hard. 

I just love it - he now uses stats as a norm without understanding the interpretation of stats properly.    The stats he has give no real info - as Ceradyne what real stats are used by experts.  

What he does not understand is that stats in fact are meaningless without  looking at the results achieved  and that is where AO has gone bonkers.   Stats used by him is like watching a headless chicken.   He does not understand that tries scored is more important than the number and distance of carries which in turn is influenced by the game plan.  Meyer and Coetzee had none - hence their firing, 

You have never ever been right on any comments you made on rugby.   Firstly you are too dumb and prejudiced to see what really happens on a playing field.

Any one who reads any comments of you on rugby issues will have a great laugh and conclude that they really believe the exact opposite from the shit you carry on about.   But there is one thing you have not explained.  You claim Erasmus was a top class coach with a wonderful game plan - one of the best we have in SA and  you supported Coetzee ahead of Erasmus as coacha s well,   Now tell me what did their  latest employers fired the two of them of they re so much better than Erasmus?