London Irish on why price is now right for Ben White with Scotland
London Irish director of rugby Declan Kidney has given his verdict on the flourish that has swept Ben White into the No9 Scotland jersey ahead of Ali Price. The Exiles’ half-back started just once in his first nine Test appearances for the Scots, but he got the jump on the 2021 Lions player last month in the Guinness Six Nations, starting the matches against England, Wales and France.
That selection was no mean feat for the 24-year-old who is in his second season at London Irish after he initially made the breakthrough in the pro ranks at Leicester. White played second fiddle last term at the London club to ex-Wallabies No9 Nick Phipps, but he patiently bided his time and has since gone on to become a first choice – not only at Irish but also for Scotland.
“Sometimes lads get into a groove and build confidence when they are starting matches regularly,” explained Kidney about White taking the No9 jersey for both club and country. “Ben has a very competitive mindset, and his form has been very good right throughout the season.
“To be displacing somebody like Ali in Scotland shows the level that he is at. I wouldn’t know the ins and outs of how Ali is going but when Ben gets his chance, he is inclined to make the most of it and I suppose that is what Gregor (Townsend) is looking at, that his form is good.
“Whether they will change it or not this weekend (against Ireland), I don’t know. I don’t want to be putting the yips on him, but they are two very good scrum-halves, and this year Ben is getting the nod. Last year he was finishing to Ali, this year he is getting the nod over him so there is obviously not a whole lot between them in Gregor’s eyes.”
Why the sudden difference? “He is enjoying it. That is what we have talked about, just to enjoy it because you never know. It is a competitive environment getting on any international team and it has gone well for him. He is very professional, turns up for work.
“Sometimes in the Premiership the lads coming back from Welsh, Scottish duty, they must put their best foot forward and Ben has done that. He arrived down (last week to face Newcastle). We have a great high-performance team here, we look after them, we don’t flog them during the week.
“While he did play a lot of minutes the last day, it was that type of game where he was able to do it and even though he did play a game, he looked a bit fresher going back (to Scotland) than he did when he arrived back to us.”
What was While like playing the patience game at London Irish last season behind the now-departed Phipps? “Nick was very generous with his time but also very competitive in holding his position so Ben would have learned from him, both about playing and how also how to hold the position.
“Ben wouldn’t want to give up anything easily. That is the combative nature of the guy and that is what gives him those little half-breaks he is inclined to make as well too. Sometimes there is not really gap there but it is just his sheer will power sees him through them.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments