Kings in talks with Jake White

Former Springbok coach Jake White is in talks with the Southern Kings bosses to take over as head coach, a post left vacant by Deon Davids during the Pro 14 off season, City Press has learnt.

White, who coached the Springboks to Rugby World Cup victory in 2007, met with Kings chairperson Loyiso Dotwana and his deputy Rory Stear on day one of the ongoing third cricket test match between the Proteas and England at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth this week.

The approach by the Kings represents a huge about-turn as they initially turned down White’s advances when they began their ultimately fruitless search for Davids’ replacement last year.

Uppermost in the Port Elizabeth franchise’s thinking at the time was that White – whose teams play with a distinctive doggedness rather than élan – was not the right fit for a side belonging to owners in love with all things related to New Zealand’s All Blacks when it comes to rugby.

But with the current season, the Kings’ third in Pro 14, having begun in much the same unsuccessful manner as the previous two have – with one win from eight games for a horrendous overall record of played 50, won four, drawn one and lost 45 in the tournament – it would appear the franchise will happily take substance over style by taking a chance on White, if it means winning matches.

White is available to coach after being replaced by former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen at Japanese club side Toyota Verblitz. The Kings have looked a little more competitive under director of rugby Robbi Kempson, who is the acting head coach, but the victories have proven to be elusive.

Enter White, who has built himself a reputation as a patron saint of lost causes, starting from having picked up a post-Kamp Staaldraad Springbok team in 2004, winning the Tri-Nations that year and guiding them to the World Cup win in Paris three years later.

Having acrimoniously left the Springboks, White resurrected a broken down ACT Brumbies team and led them to the 2013 Super Rugby final, where they lost to the Chiefs. A year later, he coached the Sharks to a Super Rugby quarterfinal defeat against the Chiefs, before winning the European Challenge Cup with French club side Montpellier in 2016.

While his calling card has always been rebuilding struggling teams into competitive outfits, White has almost always left his jobs acrimoniously. This is thanks to a style of rugby described in France as cold and methodical, his penchant for openly pursuing better opportunities while on whatever job, and an uncanny ability to rub people up the wrong way due to an abrasive manner.

Were he to agree terms with the Kings, City Press understands that White would be offered a two-year contract to turn the team’s fortunes around, even though he wouldn’t have the luxury of a budget to bring in new players.

Despite embarking on what was supposed to be an exciting northern hemisphere adventure in the Pro 14, after being relegated from Super Rugby along with the Cheetahs, the Kings have found hiring a coach with a big enough name nigh impossible.

Their attempts to find a replacement for Davids last year descended into a farce.

With the favourite candidate from their shortlist, Rory Duncan, pulling out because the process took too long, the Kings then got embroiled in a spot of in-fighting with their partners Eastern Province, who favoured former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers over the other remaining candidate, Samoa coach Steve Jackson.

Unhappy with the lack of confidentiality during the process, Jackson also pulled out, leaving Kempson to deputise as head coach. White is the nearest thing to the big-name coach they have sought, warts and all.

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