White’s Dream Team a reality

“It is a team that, I think, is going to be supported by the whole of South Africa,” said Bok coach Jake White after the announcement of the 30-man Springbok squad to contest this year’s Rugby World Cup in France.

“This it is a team that we worked with in the last couple of years and I’ve been lucky enough to work with a lot of these players from junior age-groups.

“However, the most exciting part about it is I believe this is a team that can really do well at the World Cup and also have a 100 per cent full bill of health. It is nice not to have any players out in the World Cup year with big injuries.

“When I say clean bill of health it is important that we understand there’s no Bakkies Botha injuries, or no Schalk Burger injuries, or Gurthro Steenkamp injuries like last year.

“It’s great to have everybody in a World Cup year and have everybody that’s going to be available. Yes, there are a couple of niggling injuries – there are players that we need to get ready.

“André (Pretorius) has 24 Test matches and the next guy only has half that number of Test caps, so it is important that we get him going.

“The most important is that this 30-man squad is the best that we could have picked.

“I really believe that in the four years we’ve been working with this group, everyone has been given an equal and fair opportunity to make the final 30. These 30 men have been picked on merit.

“We are exactly where we wanted to be in 2007. Now it’s about picking the side that is going to play against England.

“It is a matter of picking a team and giving them game time, getting the combinations going. We haven’t had Fourie du Preez for a while, he’s got to get on the field and play in that team which he’s been part of for four years.

“Schalk and Bakkies were out for the entire international season last year, Gurthro sat out the whole of last year.

“For me it’s not a case of using Namibia to give other boys an opportunity to get match fit, it’s about picking a team.

“We’ve got to beat Samoa and England and that’s all we’re focusing on now, making sure we win our first two games.

The Bok coach talked about the experience that his side takes into the World Cup.

“You need to take experienced players to the World Cup and it is a wonderful situation where you can take people who have not only played in a World Cup before, but also have a huge amount of Test experience and that’s the most exciting thing.

“You can’t be taking new caps to a World Cup. We’ve had four years to work with a group of players and in four years we’ve picked what we believe is the best team to go to the World Cup.

White is happy with the strong leadership qualities inherent in the chosen squad..

“Victor has been a captain, Johann Muller captained them, Wikus has been a captain at Provincial level, Gary also.

“So, within our team we’ve got a lot of leaders anyway. That is one of the strengths within this group of players.

“But as Kitch Christie said, there has to be a great relation between captain and coach.

“People that have watched rugby this year have seen how much we missed John (Smit) in recent matches. People have seen what a huge impact he makes, not only the way he plays, but the way he leads.

“To go to a World Cup with a guy like John, who has over 60 Test caps, is very crucial. He is the most-capped Springbok captain ever and one of the most successful South African captains ever.

“I can’t praise him enough for the role that he plays for us. I’m very lucky that I have a captain who’s the most experienced captain in the year that we are going to a rugby World Cup,” concluded White.