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Rugby Union

White eyes Wallabies role

30/10/2007

World Cup-winning coach Jake White could be about to make a switch from South Africa to Tri-Nations rivals Australia.

Despite clinching the Webb Ellis Cup earlier this month with victory over England in the final, White was eased out by the South African rugby authorities who advertised for applications for his job while he was in France.

White refused to re-apply for the role and has now made his first move towards securing new employment by enquiring about the possibility of taking on the position recently vacated by John Connolly.

Connolly stood down as Australia coach after the team bowed out of the World Cup after a quarter-final defeat by England.

The Australian Rugby Union's high-performance manager Pat Howard revealed that preliminary discussions had already taken place with White's agent Craig Livingstone.

"I've outlined the process to him and that's all that had happened. I interviewed Jake White a year ago for the Leicester head coaching position and I appreciate that he will have a lot of decisions to make," he said.

"I am more in the wait-and-see mentality at the moment. We've got a lot of good candidates that we are considering and I can only move forward on the guys we've got."

A host of big names from Super 14 franchises are also expected to make a bid for the job.

Canterbury Crusaders coach Robbie Deans, Auckland Blues' David Nucifora, NSW Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie and Brumbies' Laurie Fisher are all tipped to make their interest known before interviews begin on November 9th.