Former Scotland rugby captain Jason White says he is excited by the prospect of taking over as head coach of North Berwick RFC.
Former British and Irish Lion White, who hung up his boots in 2012, takes over from Rhodri Thomas at Recreation Park, after the Welshman moved to Haddington RFC.
Although North Berwick represents a first head coach role for the former Scotland skipper, he has been working alongside Marcus Di Rollo and Simon Taylor, two fellow ex-internationalists, at Watsonians.
And White is “really looking forward” to the upcoming season.
He told Courier Sport: “I can’t wait to get going. The boys have all been really enthusiastic at training and once we get into it the games will come thick and fast.” “We’ll get the North Berwick Highland Games out of the way next weekend and then we’ll be able to get the posts up.” The former Scotland skipper, who lives in the town, is keen to give something to the local community.
“North Berwick is a great club, they do a lot for the local community and when I spoke with them I was keen to get involved,” he said.
And having worked under the likes of Vern Cotter, Phillipe Saint-Andre and Sir Clive Woodward – the latter while White was a late call-up to the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand – White arrives with an impressive pedigree.
The 37-year-old, now an athlete director for Red Sky Management, hopes that he can pass on some of their tips to the North Berwick squad.
He added: “It’s about making it all relevant – the boys are there for the love of the game so it’s about helping them to enjoy it.
“I want to help take the team forward step by step.
“It will be a a balancing act for me with my work and having a young family, but it will be about having a good basic skill set – if you look at the best teams, right the way up to the All Blacks, they’ve all got a really good set of basic skills.
“The boys have been working hard and I’ve taken a few sessions already, and it’s been good.” And Iain Dove, North Berwick RFC president, is delighted to have secured the services of the former English Premiership winner – with Sale Sharks in 2006 – and Lindsay Renwick, another ex-Scotland cap, who will work as White’s assistant.
He told Courier Sport: “NBRFC are delighted to confirm the appointment of Jason White as their new coach. Jason will be well known to rugby fans across the county with 77 appearances for Scotland.
“He has recently moved to North Berwick and after a spell coaching at Watsonians he has decided to commit himself to his local club. He is joined by another ex-internationalist Lindsay Renwick and between them they are intent on retaining and extending the club’s brand of attacking rugby – although a record 131 tries last season will be hard to beat!
“Captain Grant Spence and vice-captain Ben Inglis have been working closely with Jason and Lindsay to bring them up to speed and helping to plan out game strategies. The current focus is on building up fitness and the numbers at training remain high despite the tough sessions.” While pre-season plans have yet to be finalised, White was already looking forward to the start of the league season – with his first game in charge an East Lothian derby against Dunbar.
Share