Every Super Rugby story needs a hero and a villain, but the ACT Brumbies won’t know which category former coach Jake White fits into until the end of next year.
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In a history-making and record-breaking season, White shocked everyone when he quit the last two years of his Brumbies contract to return home to South Africa.
White lifted the Brumbies from a rabble in 2011 to a title contender this year during his stint.
But it’s the next year that will dictate how he is remembered at Brumbyland.
Will White’s departure trigger a return to past bad habits after he walked away from the club two months after the Super Rugby final? Or will White’s legacy live on and the Brumbies continue as Australia’s best team?
Only the Brumbies of 2014 can control that and after one of the most amazing years in the club’s history, there’s an expectation of success. The White-led Brumbies shocked everyone this year when they:
■ Set a Super Rugby record for the most consecutive wins (seven) away from home;
■ Became the first provincial team to beat the British and Irish Lions in 42 years when they secured an intense and historic 14-12 win at Canberra Stadium;
■ Ended a nine-year finals drought;
■ Lost the Super Rugby final to the Waikato Chiefs 27-22 after more than 30,000 kilometres of travel in a month;
■ Club legend George Smith returned to replace the injured David Pocock and almost got a fairytale end to his career;
■ Won the inaugural World Club Sevens tournament in London;
■ White quit after missing out on the Wallabies job;
■ Chief executive Andrew Fagan quit the last year of his contract, and;
■ Brumbies and Wallabies great Stephen Larkham is new head coach and former coach Laurie Fisher the new director of rugby.
The Brumbies had their best season in almost a decade, but it is White’s exit that remains fresh in everyone’s mind.
White was jaded when the Australian Rugby Union opted for Ewen McKenzie ahead of the South African World Cup winner to be the new Wallabies coach.
It triggered an off-season debacle, which led to White quitting the Brumbies and defecting to the Durban Sharks.
White had a four-year deal to coach the Brumbies. Brumbies hierarchy thought he would be in Canberra for at least three of those years, despite constant speculation about his desire to be an international coach. White was recruited to rebuild the Brumbies and resurrect the club when he took over at the end of 2011.
The Brumbies got within a whisker of the finals last year and then stormed into the play-offs and the grand final this year.
White left when the team was at the top and, to be fair, he did his job of reinvigorating the Brumbies. The opposing view is that White walked out halfway through the job.
Missing out on the Wallabies was his escape clause and the Brumbies will move on with Stephen Larkham and Laurie Fisher in charge. The Brumbies run to the finals this year was spectacular.
They made the finals for the first time since 2004 and beat the Pretoria Bulls in South Africa to advance to the grand final. The Brumbies flew 30,000 kilometres in four weeks to make it to the final against the Waikato Chiefs.
Had veteran winger Clyde Rathbone escaped the outstretched hand of a desperate Chiefs defender, the Brumbies probably would have won. But Rathbone was dragged down metres from the line and the Chiefs came from behind to win their second straight title. It broke Brumbies hearts. The pain of that defeat will stay with them until they can avenge the five-point loss.
In a year of Super Rugby finals, Wallabies representatives and White quitting, the biggest moment was undoubtedly beating the British and Irish Lions on a chilly night in Canberra.
The Lions – the best players from England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland – were on a once-in-12-year tour of Australia.
The Brumbies were missing 12 players because they were in camp with the Wallabies. No provincial team had beaten the Lions since 1997 and no Australian provincial team had beaten them in 42 years.
Outside-centre Tevita Kuridrani scored the only try of the match when he fended his way through the defensive line and barged over.
Emotion spilled over when the tiring Brumbies held on for one of their biggest moments in history.
Brumbies great George Smith also shocked fans when he made a surprise comeback in March. Smith won his 10th Brett Robinson Award for club player of the year.
The Brumbies will start next year with new coaches, a new chief executive and new pressure to win the championship.