Schoolboy rugby is the heart of Springbok rugby, says White
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Former Springbok coach and new Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White opens up in the first of three wide-ranging interviews.
It is on the hardened fields of schools around South Africa where Jake White believes the true strength of Springbok rugby lies. As long as a young boy has the desire to play his heart out for his school, White believes the future of Springbok rugby is secure.
“Schools are the saving grace of our rugby, and I believe schools are becoming more and more important to South African rugby,” White said in an exclusive interview as he prepares for the next phase in his coaching career at the helm of the Vodacom Bulls.
“The one thing that has remained consistent is that our schoolboy rugby is still very competitive and it’s still very prestigious for a boy to represent his First XV. As much as club rugby has changed and junior provincial rugby has changed, the one thing that’s never changed is that loyalty and passion for First XV rugby at schoolboy level,” White said.
It is perhaps hardly surprising that as a former schoolmaster himself, White should believe so implicitly in the value of schoolboy rugby. He has already earmarked a meeting with some of the major schools surrounding Loftus Versfeld and elsewhere in Pretoria as amongst his priorities when he is able to take up his position with the Bulls following the national lockdown due to Covid-19.
“Schools are very important to me. One thing I missed in my time coaching around the world is that I never had the interaction with the great schools in those countries. As a schoolteacher and old boy of a good school and having gone through education and studied teaching with others, it’s always been a link and a bit of a saviour for me.
“In South Africa I could pick up the phone and phone a headmaster or a First XV coach or even a schoolteacher and ask about a particular schoolboy rugby player. But in my time overseas I couldn’t do that. So schools are very important to me.”
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🔊:sport24.co.za
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