White excited about rugby's future
When the IRB Rugby Committee met in Dublin last week, three well-known members were making their 'debuts' on the panel.
When the IRB Rugby Committee met in Dublin last week, three well-known members were making their 'debuts' on the panel.
South Africa's World Cup-winning coach Jake White was appointed to the think-tank in September, along with French Test centurion Fabien Pelous and Carol Isherwood, one of the key driving forces behind the Women's Game.
“I was probably a little bit in awe to start with,” admitted White, the most recent man to coach a team to the Rugby World Cup title, in France in 2007.
“There's Graham Mourie, an ex-All Black captain, Bill Beaumont, one of the legends of the Lions and England, just to mention two names.
“So to walk in there and have that calibre of person asking questions and debating rugby is quite special and it's wonderful to be in a rugby environment where people are genuinely talking about the positiveness of rugby union.
“You never think when you start playing or coaching rugby in South Africa that one day you'll have the privilege and honour of being involved in a Committee like this so it's been quite daunting, but I'm proud to be invoved in something so special.”
Isherwood's particular area of expertise resides in the fast-developing women's game and Pelous brings the pespective of a current player, whose career has spanned both the amateur and professional eras.
White clearly brings modern coaching acumen, but is also inspired by the Committee's more generic remit.
“I think the most important thing is in terms of where the game is going to go,” he added.
“Look at the game in the 70's and 80's and then look at the game now. I was talking with Graham Mourie and he said 'after six, seven phases props and lock forwards were so tired they couldn't even defend'.
“And now you see how locks and props are still tackling after 12 phases, it just shows you how the whole shape of the game has changed.
“So when I'm asked what I want to bring to the IRB Rugby Committee, it's to see that it evolves and develops in a way that makes it more and more exciting, and you just have to look back 20 years and see how it's all changed, to see how much excitement there can be going forward in the next 20 years.”
Sevens is also set to play a key role in rugby's short and long-term evolution, particularly now that the sport will be played at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. White believes that the lesser nations could now truly start to challenge at the very top of the game.
“One of the things that came out very clearly is how unified rugby union has been around the world in pushing towards the Olympic goal and it's both men and women,” he said.
“You see the excitement from Carol (Isherwood), who's been greatly involved in the women's game. With Olympic recognition now, imagine how big this game can go.
“So many other countries are now going to come into Sevens.
“South Africa would like to believe that we have an edge because we are the current World Series champions, but you know what's going to happen – a couple of years ago Fiji were dominating World Sevens, Samoa were a great Sevens team and I have no doubt that, once governments start giving funding for Olympic Sevens, there might be a whole change in teams who are going to be dominant in Sevens.
“Who knows? Maybe a country like Russia with a massive population will become a team to dominate in Sevens.”