Jake White says the writing is on the wall for South African rugby

Former Springbok coach Jake White has given a scathing assessment of the current state of South African rugby. With the Boks struggling in recent years, with historic losses against Japan, Argentina and Ireland, White believes things need to change desperately quickly.

In an interview with  Vodacom Rugby, he said: “In the next five years, unless we make some really strong decisions as a union and a country, our rugby reputation will be lost – maybe forever. The writing is on the wall.”

White raised concerns about the outflux of players to overseas club and bemoaned the quality of the Currie Cup.

“I love South Africa and our rugby, I always have… one of the greatest days of my life was becoming the Bok coach. But when I look in from overseas and see the Blue Bulls playing the Golden Lions in a Currie Cup match on a Friday night, when there’s no Test match on the following Saturday, that for me is a tell-tale sign of where our rugby is going,” said White.

“The Currie Cup was South African rugby’s saving grace during the isolation era. To play Currie Cup rugby was almost tougher than playing Test matches at times – when touring sides came to South Africa, and they had to play Northern Transvaal, a lot of teams called it their ‘fourth Test match’.

“If you look at the kind of players who are playing Currie Cup now, with the Springboks and internationals away, we are saying that the Currie Cup is not what it used to be, and my fear is that we’re accepting mediocrity.”

White also suggested that the Springboks are thinking too small, using New Zealand rugby as an example. He said that the All Blacks use the best sports teams in the world – like Barcelona FC and Ferrari F1 – as their benchmark for greatness.

“The way we’re heading, we’re going to end up where we can’t be a force in World Rugby anymore,” he added.