White: We’re going to Paris with men!

Jake White, like his coaching role-model and good friend Sir Clive Woodward, believes that it is experience that wins World Cups. He has learned from Woodward’s ‘Dad’s Army’ World Cup winning campaign and believes that his team has the experience to go all the way.

“Patience is not something you’d associate with our rugby. There’s this constant thirst for instant gratification and it creates unrealistic expectation.

“In 2003 we sent boys to win the World Cup. This time we’re going to Paris with men. When I got the Bok job in 2004 I asked the administration for four years. I had to have four years to build a team that had a realistic chance of winning the title. Thankfully I’m still here in the fourth year and those boys have grown into test veterans. 

“They’re men in every sense of the word. They’ve matured mentally. They’re tougher for the experience of a World Cup and four additional years of Test rugby. I can’t place a big enough premium on experience. A young guy can make a contribution to the campaign, but you need the older battle-hardened brigade to take you all the way.

“I’ve studied who succeeded and who failed. A lot of people were surprised when the All Blacks lost in the World Cup semifinal in 2003, but they were a very young side back then. Many of those players will also be in Paris, which makes them a better team this time around. But in 2003 they were not that good. John Mitchell (2003 All Blacks coach) has since said that his young guys didn’t give the play-offs the necessary respect. 

“Because they had beaten Australia twice in the build-up to the World Cup they thought they could arrive in Sydney and win on ability alone. It doesn’t work like that. The more a player is exposed to big match occasions, the better they cope with it. In my book it is about experience. There was a reason I wanted Percy Montgomery back with the Boks. There was a reason I needed to build experience in this team. Six months ago people questioned why I’d even look at Bob Skinstad. Look what he did at the Sharks.

“You only have to be here to know the influence he has on this squad. I have to take 30 players to the World Cup and in that dynamic you can’t put a price on experience because you can’t go out and buy it. It is something that can only be earned over time.

“John Smit, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw, Schalk Burger, Juan Smith, Joe van Niekerk, Jaque Fourie … Ashwin Willemse … they were in Australia in 2003. They were rated as world class players. But four years on many of them rank as the best in their positions in world rugby, and to win a World Cup you have to have players regarded as the best in their positions. 

“I believe we now have that, but it has taken me four years to get to that point and the process has been even longer when you think of when the likes of Smittie and Victor first played test rugby.”