Jake seems to have a free hand at Bulls

To say that Jake White likes to make waves is merely stating the obvious. White, named the Bulls’ new director of rugby in March, took the entire nation by surprise when he accepted the role, including the then Bulls coach Pote Human, who had no idea at the time that his own union was in the process of getting rid of him.

What White brings with him is a sound pedigree, and he is very much results-driven, which could bring music to the ears of all the die-hard Bulls supporters who are screaming out for a return to their golden era when they won more games than they lost.

In addition, White will introduce strict discipline, something that hasn’t always gone down well with previous teams he has coached, like the Boks, the Brumbies and the Sharks.

While he obviously picked up some good results with both the Brumbies and the Sharks, their relationships turned sour, with the players complaining that the former Jeppe Boys High School teacher had treated them like “schoolboys”.

White terminated his contract at the Brumbies about eight years ago, with two years still left to run, to pursue a new opportunity at the Sharks where it initially went well.

But he and former Bok captain John Smit, who by then was the Sharks’ director of rugby, clashed heads on numerous issues which resulted in White resigning from the position.

White, who at stages also showed an interest in the coaching positions at the Stormers and with the England national team some four years back, went on to coach top French side Montpellier and Toyota Verblitz in Japan.

Despite his English-speaking background, White believes he can hold his own in the Afrikaans language which of course is the norm at the Bulls, with a large majority of the players coming from Àfrikaans backgrounds.

In a radio interview earlier this week with Jacaranda FM’s Martin Bester, White was also jokingly asked if he knew that brandy and coke was the in-thing for Bulls supporters, and he swiftly replied that he was “not scared of brandy”.

White has been in the news almost daily of late, with his recruitment drive luring several players to the Jacaranda City, among them a host of former Bulls and five current or former Boks. White’s hand is obviously strengthened with two multi-millionares sitting on the Bulls board, and one has to wonder if former coach Pote Human was given the same freedom.