Everything Jake White did in Australia was first class… until last night.
His appointment in late 2011 was warmly welcomed by all Aussie rugby fans, but only the most rabid of Brumbies supporters could have predicted the wild rise through the Super Rugby ranks that followed in the next two years. They went from pretenders to contenders, chumps to champs, tail-enders to grand finalists. All with a wave of Jake’s magic wand, and some help from his able assistants Larkham, Fisher, Gregan, Benton.
He assembled a team of precocious youngsters, and threw in a few grizzled veterans and Super battlers to complement their two Wallabies at the time, Steve Moore and Ben Alexander. Over the course of the next two seasons he turned them into world beaters, and many of them are now capped Wallabies: Mogg, Toomua, Tomane, Lealiifano, Palmer, White, Kuridrani, Fardy, Mowen, Sio.
He charmed the Canberra public and press, and injected some much-needed life into a franchise that was a shadow of its former self. The style of rugby wasn’t exactly exhilarating, but they scored enough tries and won enough games to ensure healthy crowds. They entered lucrative partnerships with the University of Canberra, and then the AIS. The ship had been well and truly turned around, and was heading towards the horizon at a rapid rate.
And then he quit. From South Africa. Without a word of explanation to the public, or more importantly to the Brumbies fans who had flocked to support him and his team. In an instant, all the goodwill that he had built with the Australian rugby public had evaporated.
Sadly his departure from Canberra has lacked the class he showed throughout his stint at the helm of HMAS Brumby. His lack of comment has created a vacuum, which has inevitably been filled with rumour and gossip about his family and his failure to get the Wallaby coaching job.
If he returned home for family reasons, that is totally understandable. Canberra is a long way from the Republic and the tyranny of distance can sometimes be too much to bear. However just a few months ago he was applying for the Wallaby job, and appearing to double-down on his commitment to life in Australia. Homesickness did not appear to be an issue then.
The ARU excuse is harder to swallow. If some stories are to be believed, Jake copped some rough treatment from certain officials, who made him believe the Wallaby job was all but his. I can understand how this may hurt, but to be honest that disappointment is part and parcel of life as a coach. To return to South Africa because of this supposed mistreatment is nothing short of a temper tantrum, and looks from the outside like the Brumbies were nothing more than a stepping-stone for Jake.
But all this could be solved if he fronted the cameras and explained himself. That is what ultimately sticks in the craw here. His use of the media was outstanding in Canberra, and his sudden disappearance in the last week speaks volumes.
He has built a fantastic foundation for the Brumbies to build on in coming years. He is a brilliant coach who will undoubtedly return to the heights of international rugby sooner rather than later. But the nature of his departure this week has left a sour taste in the mouth, and will sadly tarnish his legacy in this country.
