Jake White

The new ACT Brumbies were supposed to be wallowing at the bottom of the Auzzie conference fighting the Rebels for the wooden spoon. Yet against all the odds they are currently in a position to challenge for the title. I know there are many people, of whom plenty are South Africans, that don't rate Jake as a decent coach. Yet he has once again taken severely weakened team, this time the Brumbies, with basically no stars in it, and in a matter of a few months taken them from being the worst performing Brumbies team in the history of the competition (Last Year), to a genuinely competitive side that currently looks good for a shot at the overall title.

It is acknowledged that the Super Rugby competition is the highest quality club rugby competition in the world. In order to succeed in this competition, even with a team full of stars, you need a really good coach. Now how good must a coach be to take a team with no confidence, basically no stars and a rubbish recent track record, and turn them into title contenders? I say a bloody good coach!

It is a pity that politics chased Jake White away from our shores, but I think it is time that people, at the very least, acknowledge how a good coach he is.

Yes a good coach agreed. But please take into account the Brumbies should have lost the game against the Cheetahs. So take four points off and things look a little different. Its early days yet.

It's even more shameful that we have a country so stupid that it aggressively attacks everything that is good in it. Jake the snake? Often I hear that and it angers me. He had the guts to do what no other Saffer in the game has done... dig his heels in and stand up to those racist animals running our game. He obviously lost that battle in the end but he brought honor to our rugby as well as respect. He is held in very high regard around the world. As is always the case, the better estimation of our talent comes from abroad. Saffers for the most part love to identify and praise the least of what we have. You will not get these Saffers to credit him unfortunately. On one hand the hand-out brigade see Jake as the poster boy of everything they hate about white South Africans, the more successful he becomes, the more bitter and aggressive they become. Peter was supposed to show up this lily-white, and when that never happened they turned to attacking Jake repeatedly. It makes me sick. Then on the other hand, you have the doff whites that followed Keo's campaign against Jake all because he wouldn't grant him easy entry into the team as captain. Unbelievable isn't it? In the end I think it's best that Jake is in Australia; it's our loss, but it gives a better quality of life in a far more advanced and professional set-up. He has no political interference and look what he is achieving. As soon as he brought success to the Boks, the politicians were all over him. As things stand, what he has accomplished at the Brumbies is nothing short of astounding. Could the Bulls, Stormers, Crusaders, Chiefs etc be competitive next season if they lost 16 players? The Aussies don't even have resources to pull players from like South Africa and New Zealand. The wheels may well come off at some point, and if it does you can guarantee that the coackroaches will come out in droves, but Jake has yet again proven himself to be one of the best coaches in the game.

You are right Beeno, the Brumbies were awarded a highly suspect penalty, but they had their chances in that game to put us away. In the end both sides blew their chance to kill the other off.

Beeno1, that is true, but how many games are won or lost with one poor reffing decision or 1 missed tackle etc etc? The point is that the Brumbies were expected to maybe win one or two games all season, as they were in a rebuilding phase with countless new faces in the team, yet here they are competing for the top position. Don't get me wrong, they aren't gonna win the tournament this year, but they have already excelled beyond what the most positive Brumbies supporter could have imagined.

What I am saying is that its too early to be sure how the brumbis will go this season. One loss and this comment may not have been made.

I do agree though Card that Jake should never have not been reappointed after the wc.  That a nutter like ou pdv got appointed, on the admission of Hoskins that he was not the best coach available, speaks volumes about South Africa. Hopefully this will not happen again in rugby although it happens continually in other spheres.

They have already faced the Chiefs and Highlanders; two very good sides. I don't think you appreciate exactly how much the Chiefs threw at the Brumbies. To not only absorb that pressure, but create even more scoring chances, was a real test of their credentials. The Highlanders monster pack was negated and the they soaked up a spirited Cheetahs side and ended the game the stronger side. From a standing start beating the Force wasn't easy either. They successfully negated Pocock and opened up in that second half ripping them apart and held them out in the last ten minutes with immaculate defence. They are a side very short on depth yet have been rotating players around every week. A very big juggling act there. Not only that, but they are improving every week. The only other test they will need to face is the aerial assault from the Bulls.

I just feel that Jake has already done enough to force a lot of his detractors to eat humble pie. He is a clever bugger that has already outsmarted the entire world with his "boring rugby" and walked off with the Webb Ellis trophy. The Brumbies no longer play the brand of rugby that brough South Africa the 2007 world cup, but there are playing a brand of rugby that is effective, and lets face it, with sub-standard players. Who is behind it, you guessed it, 'ol Jakey.

Jake White is a sly fox in many ways. His first step always seem to be getting back to where it started and then slowly start introducing what he think is necesary. Remember one of the first things that he did when he started off with the Bokke was to bring back the old traditional blazer with the gold strip around the colour.................. Has anybody noticed that the Brumbies' 2012 jersey is very close to the original on in 1996?

Oh give it a break we are all of 4 matches into the S15, lets talk at the end when we can check just how great the wondeful Jake is

Jake strongly believes in maintaining and respecting traditions and values. It's one of the strengths he brings.

 is the Brumbies game becoming one dimensional? as they proved against the Sharks? Teams are working them out!

One-dimensional? I don't think they are one dimensional. In reality, we know what to expect from each side. Today execution in the opposition 22 let them down. That was the difference. They fought hard to get back into the game, but they gave themselves too much to do. It's a pity because the Shark's created practically nothing. But what's done is done, there are positives to take from the defeat. They absolutely manhandled the Shark's pack and that is something to take heart from.

 I am not sure about "absolutely manhandled" the Shark's pack! I would think they were more resigned to take on the Shark's forward pack because of the game plan they had - they spent so much energy pick and go that when they got to the Shark's 5metre line and the defense got more ferocious, they did not have anything else left hence quick tries at the other end! One dimensional I think!

That's not one-dimensional. They built up pressure, but let the Shark's off the hook with those two intercepts. The Brumbies are quite dangerous from broken play and regularly break stern defences. I'd say it was the shark's that ran out of ideas after being bossed at the breakdown and shutdown out-wide. They dominated this game. It's like the Bulls/Blues game, those stupid mistakes are the difference between winning and losing.

 Wow what happened to the wonderful Jakes side against the Sharks at home. Jake is a joke

The Brumbies comprehensively outplayed the flailing guppies.

 What a load of shit......the score line was flattering for the Brumbies. Good old Jake has managed to quash any creativity the Brumbies might have had..........by mid season he will be calling on the services of Eddie again to rescue him from the sand that sinks!!!!

A question, do you actually support SA rugby - for I sense an anti Sharks here?

 At least Jake is a coach willing to learn. remember when he relied on big forwards, now he has this kid hooper pint size of a player but actually playes to the ball(fetcher). 

I just think it is a dam shame that some our best coachers are plying their trade abroad. It would be great to bring guys back such as Mallet and White and get them to sort out our other weaker super 15 teams such as the lions and cheetahs

One of Jake's strengths is his ability to assess what resources he has and play a game that utilizes the strengths of them. He has a very good technical understanding of the game, but his management and analytical skills superb. As you say as well, he is also willing to learn. He isn't too big to hear what others have to say.