After seeing his last Test in charge of the Springboks ending in a 34-12 win over Wales at the Millennium Stadium, the 43-year-old leaves with a record of 36 wins from 54 Tests with one draw and 17 defeats.
“The lesson I’ve learned is that you’ve just got to stick to what you believe in. I am just privileged to be going out on my terms,” said White.
White has been linked with several high-profile jobs since winning the World Cup, including that of Wales Coach which Warren Gatland takes-up next week.
White, fielding nine of the team that started the World Cup final, saw his side withstand early pressure before they sprinted into a 22-0 lead just after the half-hour mark. South Africa scored five tries to Wales’s two with Jaque Fourie touching down twice and impressive wing JP Pietersen, whose fine handling helped create the centre’s double, adding one of his own.
World Cup-winning flanker Juan Smith opened the Springboks’ try tally before, in what could be a sign of things to come, 22-year-old debutant No.8 Ryan Kankowski crossed 13 minutes from time in a game where Schalk Burger, South Africa’s ‘other’ back row, was named man-of-the-match.
Kankowski, and prop Heinke van der Merwe, who came off the bench for a debut, fitted in without fuss and White said: “What made it so nice this week for Ryan and Heinke is that they didn’t look like new caps”.
White bows out after four years as coach of South Afrcia, and said, “I am not going to get bored at all. I am going to enjoy the fact I can watch a Test match without getting emotionally involved.
“I am going to spend some time watching my little boys play, telling their coaches how poor their coaching is and just putting pressure on every single coach who coaches them to see if they can become captain,” he joked.
