White in the hot seat to get the Bulls charging again
FORMER Springbok World Cup-winning coach Jake White was confirmed as the new Bulls director of rugby yesterday, taking over from Alan Zondagh, who vacated the post in February.
White joins the Pretoria-based organisation from Japan Top League club Toyota Verblitz and will assume the position with immediate effect until the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
Reports linking White to the former three-time Super Rugby champions had been circulating for weeks before the Bulls made the announcement. The role becomes White’s second South African franchise top job – after holding the same position at the Sharks in 2014.
The shareholders, Remgro, Patrice Motsepe and the BBRU [Blue Bulls Rugby Union], together with the staff, have an amazing ambition to not only take the Bulls back to number one, but also re-invent and re-mould the face of rugby in this country.”
It is understood that White will not be hands on with coaching but will drive the overall direction of the franchise and union, while current head coach Pote Human will continue the role he’s held since last year.
Under Human, the Bulls made the Super Rugby quarterfinals in 2019 and began 2020 in horrid fashion, losing five from their opening six games so far this season.
His predecessor, Zondagh, was in 2018 mandated to reduce the Bulls’ professional contracts from 200 to about 100 players, which saw a slew of young talented players leave their stable. White will be required to build the talent base back up with some canny acquisitions following the loss of World Cup stars Handre Pollard, Lood de Jager and RG Snyman, to name a few.
Bulls CEO Alfonso Meyer said: His credentials speak for [themselves] and we know his contributions are only going to improve our rugby across the board.
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