Mass changes: Jake White's extravagant spending spree set to take Bulls back to the glory days
World Cup-winning coach Jake White has embarked on the biggest modern-era spending splurge, as he seeks to make the Bulls a powerhouse again.
The Pretoria team was the dominant Southern Hemisphere franchise between 2007 and 2010, winning three of the four Super Rugby competitions during that period.
Loftus Versfeld, the 50,000-seat fortress of the Bulls in a leafy suburb, was the scene of the many great triumphs, notably a 61-17 thrashing of the Chiefs in the 2009 Final.
The ground was regularly packed as adoring supporters turned up to watch stars like flyhalf Derick Hougaard, scrumhalf Fourie du Preez and locks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha.
It was a very different story this year in Super Rugby, however, before the coronavirus pandemic brought the five-nation competition to a close after just seven rounds.
A Bulls side shorn of stars like playmaker Handre Pollard, who moved abroad after helping South Africa win the World Cup a third time last November, lost five of six matches.
The packed stands at Loftus were a distant memory with only a few thousand hard-core supporters turning up to witness one inept display after another.
It left the three-time champions 12th in the overall standings and hopes of a top-eight finish and a quarterfinals slot already gone less than halfway through the regular season.
Something had to give and coach Pote Human was fired, paving the away for the ‘Mr Fixit’ of rugby, White, to take control in March and immediately embark on a signing spree.
“We need to rebuild a winning culture at Loftus,” White, 56, told AFP. “Winning matches will bring thousands of supporters back.
“It will not be an easy task as the team has been struggling for some time, but we are up for it.”
White has hired a flood of experienced players, many of them former Springboks who opted to return home from Europe and Japan and spend the twilights of their careers in Pretoria.
The backs who were bought include Gio Aplon and Travis Ismaiel, both past 30 but with a lot to still offer, according to White, who coached the 2007 World Cup-winning Springboks.
To bolster the pack he wooed World Cup winner Duane Vermeulen back to South Africa after the forward spent a year cashing in on the riches of Japanese club rugby.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB1ZM7sgHmr/
Arno Botha, Nizaam Carr, Sintu Manjezi, Marcel van der Merwe and Walt Steenkamp have also been signed to create a virtually new Bulls pack for the post-coronavirus pandemic era.
It was not one-way traffic toward the Loftus changing rooms though with backs Warrick Gelant, Johnny Kotze, Manie Libbok, Divan Rossouw and Rosko Specman leaving.
South Africa-born former Scotland loose forward Josh Strauss was the latest departee after failing to make an impact in Super Rugby this season.
There were also coaching changes, notably the hiring of Russell Winter and the recall of former Bulls Super Rugby handler Nollis Marais.
Once dismissed by a rival coach as nothing more than a “video operator at training sessions”, White has succeeded wherever he has worked.
Assisted by wily Australian Eddie Jones, he guided the Springboks to 2007 World Cup glory with a 15-6 final triumph over England in Paris.
Told to reapply for his national team post by officials he did not click with, White refused and Peter de Villiers became the first black coach of the Springboks.
He later dramatically improved the Super Rugby fortunes of the ACT Brumbies in Australia and the Coastal Sharks in his homeland, taking both to the knock-out stages.
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White won the second-tier European Rugby Challenge Cup with French outfit Montpellier and later coached Verblitz in Japan.
When Verblitz hired outgoing New Zealand coach Steve Hansen this year, White came home and agreed to join the Bulls.
Forwards coach Winter is convinced White can make the Bulls a force to reckon with again in Super Rugby.
“We should never be shy of touting the South African style of play. When I coach forwards, I want them to play to their strengths – a brutal, confrontational type of game.
“South African forwards are naturally attuned to that way of playing and it can work so well for us.”
No rugby has been played in South Africa since mid-March because of the COVID-19 crisis and the most optimistic date for a resumption of matches is August.
SA Rugby is set to stage a revamped competition, starting in August – not unlike the Super Rugby-styled tournament already underway in New Zealand, with Australia set to follow suit in July.
– Rugby365
Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments