Jake White has been here before in his illustrious coaching career. But perhaps never before has one of the most recognisable coaches in world rugby felt such a deep emotional connection to a squad of players chasing a trophy.
“This has been a different experience for me. It’s been a very different four years of coaching for me,” says White, who is preparing to lead his Vodacom Bulls into the Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoffs for the fourth consecutive season when they tackle Edinburgh in the quarter-finals at Loftus Versfeld this weekend.
There is nothing new for White about this stage of a major rugby competition. The man who first started coaching in 1982 is well-versed in the do-or-die 80 minutes of knockout rugby, from Rugby World Cups to Currie Cups and Super Rugby.
But this one feels so much more personal. And that’s because for White, it is.
“I’ve walked a journey with this team,” he says. “For most of these players, I’ve been through the most formative years of their rugby. When I started here, many of them were only 21. Now they’re in their mid-twenties. I mean, 20 years ago, they wouldn’t have been playing in a senior team because they were considered too young. So the development of this group has been very personal for me.”
And that’s why White is hoping that this time around, his players have learnt their lessons.
Within the context of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship alone, the Vodacom Bulls have made the playoffs in every single year of the competition. They also reached the Grand Final twice and lost it twice. The most heartbreaking of all was the shock defeat against the Glasgow Warriors at Loftus last season.
It was after that final that White said, “Maybe the problem is with me”.
Months later, the true depth behind that question is revealed in White’s connection to these players.
It was there for all to see when he appeared visibly shaken as Johan Goosen was once again carried off the field with a knee injury against Cardiff. “It affected me because I know how hard Johan works. I know what he’s been through, and I thought that was the end for him”.
And then came Cornal Hendricks. His death affected the entire team. White felt it too and broke down in tears in his press conference. In 2023, while coaching in this competition, White nearly lost his life because of a blood clot in his small intestine and required emergency abdominal surgery. For White, Hendricks’ passing was a reminder of how transient life is, never mind a rugby match.
But for this reason, White’s biggest hope for this group of players is that they don’t let another opportunity at achieving Vodacom United Rugby Championship glory slip from their fingers.
“Cornal always warned the younger players in this team not to take anything for granted. We’ve lost two finals in this competition, and coming so close and not winning comes at a cost. I’m hoping that they now understand how rare these opportunities are and how you cannot afford to miss them when they come. That’s maybe the lesson this team needs to take this group to another level.”
It was a lesson, White says, that he saw his youngest son learn early in his life.
“I’ll never forget, my boy was in Grade 2, and one of his friends was knocked over on his bicycle by a bus and died. I remember the effect it had on him – going to class the next day and seeing his friend’s desk empty. Looking at today’s rugby player, we think that because they play rugby so well and are these rockstars on the field, that somehow they have it easier and handle things like Cornal’s death better. Well, they don’t. It affects them just as much as anybody else. I’m hoping that their experience will make them realise just how quickly everything can change, and to take the opportunities when they come. That’s why winning is so special – because it’s so hard to do.”
And that’s why White, who has seen coaching transform from one man with a bag of balls and a whistle back in the Eighties to a team of coaches for every area of the game, still drives through the gates of Loftus Versfeld every morning. To capture that feeling that winning brings.
“That’s what makes me get up every morning. It’s what pushes me.”
White clearly wants to win this trophy.
