For a man about to walk into the lion's den, so to speak, Jake White has quite a spring in his step. The South African coach, who has been able to turn disenchantment and resentment into optimism and harmony in the Springbok camp, has made just one change to his back row for the team's meeting with Ireland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday. In comes the fully-fit AJ Venter, out goes Juan Smith.
On the bench, Danie Rossouw comes in for Tim Dlulane and either Gaffie du Toit or Jaque Fourie will take the place of Brent Russell. Outhalf Jaco van der Westhuyzen has been included despite his finger being heavily bandaged yesterday. He sat out the training session at Blackrock College's ground at Stradbrook Road. White has included him in the starting line-up, perhaps more optimistically than in expectation.
Again the team is characterised by an intimidating back row of Schalk Burger at blindside, Joe van Niekerk at eight and Venter at openside flanker, a choice opponent for Irish debutant Johnny O'Connor. With pace and strength behind and a sprinkling of players are experienced, White's Test team, despite falling dangerously away at the end of the Welsh match, continues to bear his confidence.
Van der Westhuyzen, Percy Montgomery and right wing Breyton Paulse, who wins his 50th Test cap, have had their international careers prolonged by White and are again included. On the outhalf's fitness White is hanging tough.
"I'm assuming he'll be ready on Saturday. It hangs in the balance but we decided to wait till the end of the week. He's been playing with us for six months now. Whether he plays or practices with us the whole week is irrelevant. He'll be ready. If he's ready Friday morning or Saturday morning then he'll start," said White.
In his view of Ireland, the former schoolteacher displays a commendable degree of candour. Let not being in Dublin suffocate his refreshing sense of honesty on Eddie O'Sullivan's side. White said in South Africa during Ireland's summer tour that only two players could make it to his Springbok squad. On that he has barely budged.
"I still think if I had to pick from the Irish team, maybe the locks and (Brian) O'Driscoll would probably be the three men," he says. "(Paul) O'Connell and (Malcolm) O'Kelly are good lock forwards. I'm not saying both of them would necessarily take Bakkies (Botha) and Victor's (Matfield) place but if you are picking a squad of 22 I'd say those two locks would be there or there about. O'Driscoll speaks for himself. He's one of the top centres in world rugby. I still think these guys would be close to making the Springboks side but I doubt if any of the other players would make it."
The inclusion of a lone triumvirate then suggests Ireland have been over-rated, or, that people have not yet separated this Springbok team from the moribund, lifeless outfit White inherited and breathed some life into.
"To say they are being over-rated would be unfair," he says. "They are one of those sides that have done really well and have done really badly. They played well in the World Cup against Australia. They beat England for the Triple Crown, which was a great achievement. But if you look at the records between Ireland and South Africa, they wouldn't be considered as one of the teams that have knocked us. The same with the Welsh. They are proud rugby nations but they've only beaten us once in 18 Test matches. In saying that Ireland has got a team that has been together for a while, a balance between forwards and backs. I wouldn't say they're over-rated. I think that's harsh."
One of most interesting aspects of what White has achieved is he has strengthened the team with a squad of players, who many believe are not the strongest available. The quota system, which insures a colour balance, means for example that Ettienne Botha, a Currie Cup star, is not in Dublin.
The race balance is a fact of life in South Africa but the truth is White has made it work for him. He can now even slag off his team
"If the team listen to what I say to them this weekend then I'll be fine (laughter). The first 20 minutes (v Wales) and they were 23-6 up, so they listened to everything I told them and then went to sleep the next 60 minutes," he says. "This week I said if we just play for 80 minutes then we'll be fine. So I think the first 80 minutes will be vital and the 12 minutes of injury time we'll just hold our breath."
