Jake White clearly hates the Springboks’ ‘special’ red jersey

Jake White, the Springboks’ World Cup-winning coach, is fuming over the South African Rugby Union’s (Saru) decision to have the national team play in a red jersey against Argentina next week.

The governing body unveiled the special kit last week for the Rugby Championship in Salta on August 26.

Saru said the colour was chosen to “commemorate the 25th year of rugby unity in South Africa” as red is part of the South African flag.

But White is totally opposed to the move.

“(The explanation) is rubbish, it’s a marketing tool to sell more jerseys,” he wrote in a column for AllOutRugby.

“If we can’t sell the green and gold jersey, and we need to turn it red to sell it, then we’ve got a serious problem.”

Instead, the former mentor believes Saru is trying to compensate for the Springboks’ poor results.

“We need to look at the rugby results we’re selling and not the colour of the jersey. The way to sell more jerseys is by getting the rugby right,” White wrote.

“The All Blacks haven’t changed the colour of their jersey. Neither have FC Barcelona. Imagine if Manchester United decided to make their home jersey green?”

White also said administrators don’t understand the symbolism behind a jersey.

“When you’re a coach at the coalface of professional rugby, you’re selling the dream of playing in a jersey to players,” he wrote.

“To an administrator, changing the colour doesn’t seem like a big thing, but to a coach it’s a huge thing because you’re changing that dream.”

He’s also sceptical that Saru’s apparent gimmick will be a once-off thing.

“It’s never “just one time”, it’s the start of a slippery slope.

“Doc Craven must be turning in his grave. Everything he warned about money changing rugby if it went professional is coming true.”

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