truebluefan

SOUTH Africa's World Cup-winning coach Jake White may yet be a contender for the vacant Wallabies post after his agent contacted the Australian Rugby Union to find out details of the application process.

ARU high-performance manager Pat Howard confirmed Craig Livingstone contacted him on behalf of White last week but had yet to hear anything more. "I've outlined the process to him and that's all that had happened," Howard said yesterday.

The Wallabies job may well be in White's crosshairs after he did not apply to continue in the Springboks position. White advised South African rugby he didn't want to make a decision on his coaching future at this point.

He has been linked to other national coaching positions, including those of England and Wales, and has until Friday to lodge an application for the Australian job.

"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," Howard 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."

The list of candidates already includes Robbie Deans, who has won Super 12 and 14 titles as coach of the Crusaders, former Brumbies Super 12 winner and current Blues coach David Nucifora, Wallabies assistant coaches John Muggleton and Scott Johnson, Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie, and Brumbies mentor Laurie Fisher.

Last week ARU chief executive officer John O'Neill said ideally he would like an Australian to succeed departing coach John Connolly but the priority was to, "get the best person for the job", and if White was an applicant, the ARU would "certainly consider his application".

Howard said White had a very impressive CV, which also includes a Tri Nations title. "He's had a very successful period, I'm sure that we'd have to look at it if it came across our desk," Howard said.

Former Wallabies coach and media personality Alan Jones is also believed to be considering an application. "I think he [Jones] and John O'Neill will have a conversation during the week," Howard said.

Jones, who hasn't held a rugby union post since the sport turned professional in 1996, said the notion he was out of touch "was a bit of a laugh". "There are still 15 players and one football and you've got to work with that," Jones told Channel 10.

"When I took charge in the '80s there were similar problems. I mean, the game was in some sort of mess. They weren't winning and you had to change the way in which the game was being played, and we did that then."

The ARU is set to hold formal interviews on November 9, with the board to discuss the candidates a week later. A final announcement is scheduled by the end of November.