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White says Springboks belong in SA

“If you want to become a strong rugby union, you must have four franchises dominating every competition they play in.”

The Blue Bulls’ director of rugby, Jake White, believes Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus should bar national selection for players not contracted domestically to prevent an exodus overseas and weakening of local franchises and competitions.

White expressed this view at a breakfast hosted by the Gregg Mitchley Foundation (GMF) at the Benoni Country Club on January 22, where he was a guest speaker.

The event drew over 50 rugby-mad supporters, with some dressed in their Springboks shirts.

The 2007 IRB World Cup-winning coach, Jake White.

Sacrifice

“Rassie must say everyone who wants to play for SA must play in SA. Otherwise, you aren’t going to have provincial rugby. If you want to be a Springbok, you must make a sacrifice. It’s a massive call, but the only way it can work,” White said.

White, who won the 2007 World Cup with the Boks, said the unavailability of the best SA players has weakened local franchises and regressed the nation’s rugby to when we first played Super Rugby in 1996.

Jake White (back, second) Gregg Mitchley (second, right) and Brian Mitchell (front) with some attendees.

“The best players aren’t playing for our franchises. You must have four franchises dominating every competition they play in if you want to become a strong rugby union,” he said.

“If our franchises aren’t strengthened, we can’t expect our teams to compete with clubs like Toulouse, Leicester and La Rochelle, whose line-ups are stacked with international players.”

Former Springboks coach and current Blue Bulls director of rugby Jake White.

Currie Cup

White added that our rugby is “in a very testing time” and the best players must play domestically otherwise this mass exodus will affect the franchises and “kill the goose that lays the golden egg”.

Also Read: Mr and Miss Benoni partners with local do-gooder

“Unless the Currie Cup is Springboks vs Springboks like it used to be, you are degrading it.

Gregg Mitchley of the Gregg Mitchley Foundation.

“When you get the Pumas vs Griquas in a Currie Cup final with a referee who’s never officiated a Test match, and we say that’s the same as watching the Currie Cup when there were 23 Springboks in each team officiated by a test referee, then we are kidding ourselves,” he said.

“We have to save the goose that lays the golden egg. Otherwise, we can’t watch regional rugby, like the Currie Cup. If you fast-forward six or seven years, you won’t watch the United Rugby Championship either because all the best players will be playing overseas.”

Former boxer Brian Mitchell is the Gregg Mitchley Foundation ambassador.

Coaching

White dismissed the argument that playing abroad makes players better and that they receive better coaching.

“In the past, we produced Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and Lood de Jager when no one was allowed to play overseas.

“Johan van Graan and Jacques Nienaber coach overseas. How do they get better coaching overseas from South Africans than they do in SA? I struggle with that mindset.

Rugby-mad supporters listen to former Springboks coach Jake White.

“Another thing is we won by a point in the World Cup against France, England and New Zealand. If we’d lost the France game, would we think we had the recipe for how to become world champions?

“In other words, a point decides picking foreign-based players works better when France, New Zealand and England don’t do it and are all in the top five in the world? Why is our recipe the foolproof one?”

Foundation

Some attendees listen to Jake White speak about the state of rugby in SA.

Mitchley said the proceeds from the breakfast will go towards his foundation’s food drive, through which he donates food to elderly homes and buys groceries for needy families in the community.

“I’m going out there to continue making a difference. This past week, I received a call from someone in Etwatwa who wanted to commit suicide because they had no food, so I bought them groceries.

“I receive so many messages from those in need in the community, and we don’t always have money to assist. Events like these assist us to bring in these much-needed funds to help our community.”

The event drew over 50 people.

To get involved with the Gregg Mitchley Foundation, call Mitchley on 083 380 1016 or go to www.gmf.co.za

• The GMF was established in 2019 and is in Jatniel.
• They assist locally and in other areas.
• The foundation aims to connect willing donors to the less fortunate.
• Mitchley has walked to Durban twice to raise funds.
• The foundation raised funds to save rhinos in 2023.
• Their mantra is Kindness in Action.

Also Read: FOLLOW-UP: Mitchley brothers raise thousands for conservation

   

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