Springboks belong in SA, says Jeppe Old Boy Jake White
Jake White coached the Jeppe first XI from 1989 until 1994, leaving the school as one of the best rugby schools in the country.
Jeppe Old Boy, ex-teacher and World Cup-winning coach Jake White believes Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus should bar national selection for players if they are not contracted domestically to prevent an exodus overseas and weakening of local franchises and competitions.
White, who helped Jeppe become one of the best rugby schools in the country, spoke during a breakfast conversation organised by the Gregg Mitchley Foundation (GMF) in Benoni in January.
“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 have to make a sacrifice. It’s a massive call but it’s the only way it can work,” White said.
White, who won the World Cup with the Boks in 2007, added that our rugby is “in a very testing time” and the best players must play domestically, otherwise this mass exodus will not only affect the franchises but will “kill the goose that lays the golden egg”.
“We have to save the goose that lays the golden egg. Otherwise, we can’t watch regional rugby, like the Currie Cup and if you fast-forward to six or seven years, you won’t watch the URC either because all the best players will be playing overseas.”
No matter the year, Jeppe Boys always stand tall in support of the Springboks and honour old boy Jake White — a former national coach and proud symbol of their rich rugby heritage.
@bedfordview.edenv Jeppe High School for Boys and Caxton Local Media invite SA schools to join them in showing their support of the Springboks in the lead-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The Joburg school demonstrated its support of our men in green and gold by sharing a specially performed RWC war cry on TikTok. Jeppe High School for Boys now challenges other schools to follow suit. @jeppe.boys #JeppeBoys #Caxton4Bokke #StrongerTogether #FortiNihilDifficilius #Bokke #Springboks #RWC2023 @Alberton Record @Comaro Chronicle @Soweto Urban News @caxtonlocalmedia @MiddelburgObserver @user69332731045137 @Southern Courier @Rekord_Pretoria @AffiesWarcry @Greycollege @Monnas @Arend Rugby @Parktown boys @sa_schoolwarcries
Taking Jeppe to greater heights
White played first-team rugby for Jeppe Boys.
Although not a brilliant player, he realised he might do better as a coach.
He started coaching at Parktown Boys High in 1982 before getting a teaching post at Jeppe, where he coached different age groups before taking charge of the first IV from 1989 to 1994.
His success with Jeppe resulted in him being appointed the Transvaal schools coach in the Craven Week, as well as the province’s U21 team.
He was an assistant video-analyst for the Boks in the 1995 World Cup and was appointed technical advisor for the 1997 Springboks that toured Italy.
White became part of Nick Mallett’s management team before stints with the Sharks, first as assistant to Huge Reece-Edwards and then Rudolf Straeuli.
He became Harry Viljoen’s assistant in 2000/01 after helping the Baby Boks, led by Eric Sauls, win the Southern Hemisphere series in Argentina in 1999.
He took over the role full-time in 2002 and guided the team, with John Smit as captain, to U21 World Cup glory that year.
He became Springboks coach in 2004, guiding the team to their first Tri-Nations triumph and at the end of that season, he was named IRB coach of the year.
Despite a turbulent period as Bok’s coach, he led the team to their second World Cup victory when they defeated England 15-6 in the final at Stade de France.
