Jake White wants to fix Springboks

World Cup winning coach Jake White has reiterated his desire to step into the Springboks job again in a "Band-Aid" measure for the defence of their title in New Zealand next year.

South African coach Peter de Villiers is under enormous pressure to hold on to his job after a dreadful Tri-Nations campaign.

The South African media appear unanimous that de Villiers must go after the Boks finished last in the Tri-Nations with just one win from six matches.

De Villiers now faces a formal review and it will be fascinating to see whether the South African union, having clearly made a political appointment with him in the first place, have the gumption to sack him a year out from the World Cup.

White, who guided the Springboks to their 2007 World Cup title and was then dumped for de Villiers, has said he is prepared to help out again and believes former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones who helped him with their successful campaign in France three years ago would also like to be involved.

White said earlier this season that he would be prepared to step into the job if the Boks felt he could help turn their fortunes around.

Now after their latest loss and with mounting pressure on de Villiers, White has spoken again of taking on a caretaker role to get the campaign back on track.

White believes that Stormers coach Allister Coetzee is the best long-term option as Springboks coach but feels it would be unfair to throw him into the fire now with just 12 months to get things in order for the World Cup. White thinks Coetzee might be better to start afresh after the next tournament.

"Allister was the man who should have been appointed to replace me after the last World Cup. I said so at the time, and I remain convinced about that," White told South African website Supersport.

"But I think it might be a bit unfair on Allister, or anyone else for that matter, to be brought in on a 12 month contract and expected to fix it in that space of time with no guarantee that they will stay on beyond the World Cup. When you take over the national job, you do need a bit of time to grow into it.

"At a World Cup you need someone who has been a head coach at international level for a while. I am prepared to do that job and take it on on a temporary basis. I have experience of what is required, I know the players because two thirds of the guys who make up the core group were players I coached up until the last World Cup."

White says he has spoken to South African boss Oregan Hoskins about his availability. The ball is now firmly in the court of the administrators.

White said Jones would happily rejoin the Boks as his assistant.

"I have spoken to Eddie and he is very eager to get involved again if the opportunity arises and he would love to have a crack at winning another World Cup," White said.

"Neither myself or Eddie are in contract with anyone at the moment, we can start next week if Saru want us to. We are available to work with the Boks again, and I have told Oregan Hoskins as much. To me it’s hard to imagine how they can think they can carry on with the current set-up, but getting someone with the necessary experience in for just 12 months is going to be difficult.

"I have the advantage of having worked with most of the players, I live in South Africa and know the personalities and the issues. The players we have in this country are good enough to win a World Cup, they just need guidance."
White says there is enough time left to fix the Boks for the defence of their world crown.

"It’s not too late for the Boks to change coach, Kitch did it successfully and I would want to take the job on similar terms," said White.

"We were the strongest defensive team in world rugby a short while ago, now suddenly we are conceding 22 tries in a Tri-Nations season. That is unacceptable, and there are such elementary mistakes that are being made. It’s extremely frustrating to watch it happen and it saddens me to see it."

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