He's bracing for some boos from the parochial ACT Brumbies crowd, but coach Jake White says his biggest regret about leaving Canberra was not getting a personal blessing from his players and saying "cheers".
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White says his wife cried at his decision to quit the Brumbies midway through his contract last year and the South African coach had felt so committed to the club that he considered himself "an Aussie".
White will lead his new team, the Durban Sharks, into battle against the Brumbies on Saturday night in a top-of-the-table Super Rugby contest as he prepares for mixed reactions at Canberra Stadium.
The World Cup-winning coach announced his decision to quit from South Africa just two months after losing the Super Rugby grand final and admitted his only regret was not getting a chance to explain his decision to the players he recruited.
Players were frustrated White quit his contract after two years despite asking them to make a long-term commitment to the club.
DECISION TO QUIT?
White met with six Brumbies players in Cape Town before announcing his decision to quit. Some of the Brumbies' contingent in the Wallabies squad didn't attend the dinner.
White wrote a letter to every player in the squad, but some still haven't spoken to their former boss.
"In a perfect world I would have wanted to go and say goodbye," White said. "Logistically, to come back from South Africa to chat about it wasn't an option. I know people will say that's a cop-out. It's not. Every guy I spoke to appreciated it was a decision I made ... it's not selfish. [Former Brumbies coach] Andy Friend left when he didn't want to leave, but it suited the Brumbies.
"It's the nature of coaching. The biggest disappointment is that I never had a chance to go to Canberra and say cheers. In an ideal world I would have loved to tell the guys what I decided and get their blessing. But every guy I have spoken to has understood, yes, there are guys who are a little bit different about it. But in their heart they couldn't say what I was doing was wrong."
White says his "hand was forced" when Sharks chief executive and former Springboks captain John Smit offered him a chance to coach the Durban-based franchise.
White was back in South Africa on holidays and the Brumbies were expecting him to return at the end of October for pre-season training.
However, he announced from South Africa he would not be coming back to Canberra and only spoke to a handful of players about the reasons.
"Some of the players think, 'you said you're Aussie and you said you're in [for four years]'. That's true because I was always in. But the landscape changed, so I had to make a call," White said.
THE REPLACEMENT COACHES?
Stephen Larkham and Laurie Fisher have replaced White in a seamless transition in the Brumbies' coaching ranks.
Larkham is the head coach and Fisher is the director of rugby and the tag-team role has helped the Brumbies to second on the Super Rugby table.
White backed the duo to take the to a new level and says Larkham has the ability to be the next Wallabies coach.
"I have full respect for the fact the Brumbies have added things to their game under Laurie and Bernie [Larkham]," White said. "The decision [to leave] was easier for me when I weigh everything up. It was October, it was pre-season, Stephen Larkham wants to be a head coach, Laurie Fisher has been a head coach, they're both passionate about Canberra and the Brumbies.
"It wasn't a disaster, I'm not running away and diving into a hole. Don't underestimate how proud I get when I see the Brumbies playing well."
MISSING THE WALLABIES JOB?
The ARU overlooked White's World Cup-winning credentials to appoint Ewen McKenzie as the new Wallabies coach.
The decision played a part in White leaving the Brumbies to return to South Africa to be closer to his family.
White said he would have stayed in Australia if he felt there was a "genuine pathway" to becoming an international coach again.
"But the landscape changed," he said. "When I arrived in Australia three national team coaches were foreign coaches. When I decided to leave, there were none left.
"When I was living in Canberra, I bought a house, I moved to Australia. I'm the kind of guy who you're either in or don't do it. The Brumbies song goes: 'proud to be Australian with a Brumby on my chest'.
"I didn't go quiet when that part of the song was sung. I'm an Aussie, mate. That's why it was difficult to go back, my wife Lindy cried when I told her. In the past, coaching was the priority. But the landscape changed and selfishly or unselfishly, going to back South Africa suited me."
BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CANBERRA?
White rebuilt the Brumbies from a rabble in 2011 to grand finalists last year.
When he started his tenure, the Brumbies were 13th, had just three Wallabies and the were competition battlers. Before he left, White lifted the Brumbies into the final and his squad boasted 13 Test players.
"The grand final was fantastic and the Wallabies jerseys boys earned were special, I saw guys become dads and players become a team," White said. "What we created was special. That's why [the players] were probably disappointed when I moved on.
"If you're in a family, sometimes you have to let people go. Family doesn't mean you're in a gang and you have to stick it through, sometimes you have to understand people change and move on.
"The fact players were disappointed with my decisions means we created what I was striving for. You can't begrudge someone for that."
DO YOU HAVE AN ADVANTAGE THIS WEEK?
White knows the intricacies of the Brumbies line-up and the inner workings of each player. But he says the knowledge he passed on to the Brumbies in his tenure might backfire on Saturday night.
“It does [provide an advantage] because I know the players better than most, after working with them for a long time. I developed a few who were youngsters when I started, I know what makes them tick, and I know the weaknesses they had when they were developing their game.
“Obviously, they would have worked on those weaknesses and got better, but I do know them well.
“The converse of all that, though, is that I also gave them great insights into the South African psyche, and our players.
“This is not about me. It’s about this game, that’s the most important thing, we don’t want any other sideshows. It makes no difference who is coaching.
COACHING IN SOUTH AFRICA AND AUSTRALIA?
White led South Africa to a World Cup triumph in 2007 before going on a coaching hiatus. He credits the Brumbies with helping him find his "coaching mojo" again.
"The Brumbies were everything I wanted them to be, they helped me get back into coaching, they gave me an opportunity which I will never, ever take for granted.
"It was a great time in my coaching career because a lot of those guys were no-name players. It was new and exciting."
White said the traditional private-school background for Australian players was the big difference between the two countries.
"Australians understand rugby, they are private-school boys and they are smarter.
"They know they can't physically match all the teams, so they come up with ways to outsmart teams.
"South Africans are lucky with the amount of players we have and I can use the things I learnt to teach South Africans that perspective as well."
