From a media perspective he is, at times, hard to deal with and reluctant to give too much information away, thus avoiding giving the opposition ammunition.

The reality is; it is part of the package that makes Jake White a great coach. It is evident with other great coaches, such as Wayne Bennett, that you don’t have to be liked by everybody to achieve success.

The response from the players about White is they are happy with the structure, they receive constant feedback and they know exactly where they stand. There are no mind games and every player is judged on performance with little evidence of hierarchy.

The other positive factor is the belief in what they are doing under his guidance. He gives the impression that rugby tactics consume his every waking moment in a similar fashion to Eddie Jones, although that is surely not possible!

On second thoughts, it could be possible given his South African heritage and the dominance that rugby union has in that country.

Having observed coaches for the past 23 years, my sense is that Canberra has been a learning curve for him. There is a battle for professional football sporting codes: the Brumbies, the Raiders and, now, GWS, all seeking their share. Rugby is very much in a battle for ascendancy.

White has come to Canberra with a team in a rebuilding phase after a number of ordinary seasons. Brumbies’ supporters still hark back to the good, old days when it was a surprise if the team missed the finals.

Jake White got off to a rocky start when he offered an ambiguous response to speculation linking him with the South African coaching job just months after taking up the four-year deal with the Brumbies. That was soon clarified and it looked as though the “good ship Brumbies” had set sail to smoother waters.

Yet, there has been a certain amount of unsteadiness once it was realised that White would be targeted for the England coaching position.

From a pure rugby perspective it would be easy to understand his interest. With England hosting the next World Cup there is massive attention given to the performance of the home team.

After under-performing at the last World Cup there is an expectation that England will do better at home and the Rugby Football Union is putting every possible resource into achieving success.

Why not go for somebody like Jake White, he guided South Africa to the World Cup in 2007?

Yet White has put this speculation to rest once and for all and we can all now concentrate on
the next four seasons. In Jake we trust!