Jake White issues ‘cautionary tale’ to Springboks after Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth ‘sideshow’

Former Springboks head coach Jake White believes that the current players should heed the advice of Ex-England boss Sir Clive Woodward over their off-field activities.

White’s comments came after he saw Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi accompany Dricus du Plessis to the octagon for his UFC title fight with Israel Adesanya on Saturday.

With the event taking place in Perth, a day after South Africa’s dominant 30-12 triumph over the Wallabies in the same city, Etzebeth and Kolisi were able to attend.

However, White does not want to see the players getting too distracted by matters away from the pitch, using the England 2003 side as an example of where it could go wrong.

Becoming ‘household names’

“After the game in Perth, social media was awash with watching Siya and Eben walking in behind Dricus du Plessis for his UFC bout,” he wrote in his RugbyPass column.

“There’s no doubt the Springboks are hot right now. They have as high a profile as they’ve ever had. They’re mixing in celebrity circles and have massive social media followings.

“Having marketable, talented players will always be a challenge, so I’ll tell you a cautionary tale. I remember hosting Sir Clive Woodward after his 2003 success with England.

“He came to meet our management team and presented to us, talking about the one percenters required to win a World Cup. I remember him telling me what changed post-2003, was that suddenly his players were household names.

“All of a sudden they were on Strictly Come Dancing, they were on adverts, and he struggled with that. He said the reason they faltered afterwards, was that rugby wasn’t their No 1 focus – the failed 2005 British and Irish Lions tour was testament to that.

“If you step outside the rugby bubble, sure you create the hype that makes the game bigger, but it will come at an expense elsewhere, even if it’s further down the line.”

White does not mind it on a one-off basis, but the 2007 Rugby World Cup winner believes that it could hamper performances if it happens consistently.

“In isolation, I’ve got no problem with the Dricus sideshow. They were in Perth, they are friends and as proud South Africans, showing their loyalty, but it’s probably not the recipe for success if done on a regular basis,” he wrote.

“Put it this way, they wouldn’t have done that before they’d won two World Cups, because they weren’t deemed serial winners. Once players start to forget rugby is No 1, then things can quickly go south.”

How White dealt with it

Although White departed in the immediate aftermath of their World Cup triumph in 2007, the 60-year-old had to deal with a fair few rising stars during his time as Springboks boss.

“When I was Springbok coach, back in 2004, I had Schalk Burger Jnr bursting through. He was the sensation of world rugby. His father, Schalk Snr, worked for a company called Megapro, which sold sponsorship to SA Rugby, along with George Rautenbach,” he added.

“If anyone knew about how to market rugby or a product, it was his dad, so I had to be sensitive to how I handled this emerging talent. When he was 20, I forbade him to go to certain press conferences, I kept him out of the spotlight.

“It was similar with Bryan [Habana]. I sent guys like Os du Randt out, who was in his thirties and could handle the pressure. The media weren’t happy but I deliberately did that, because I didn’t want them to get carried away or lose their respect for a team game.”