Montpellier ask Jake White to stay on as coach

Top14 Rugby club Montpellier’s president Mohed Altrad have revealed that he has asked former South African coach Jake White to stay on as coach.

2007 Rugby World Cup winning coach White has made it known that he wants to coach at international level again but in recent years he has been coach of Super Rugby sides the Brumbies and the Sharks.

White left the Sharks in the second half of last year and was then brought in on a temporary basis to replace Fabien Galthie who was suspended on December 29 after a string of defeats

“The president wants me to stay,” White said in an interview published on Friday in l’Equipe and Midi Libre newspapers.

“I’m here for six months. For the good of the club it’s important that the players know who will be the coach next season. The president (Altrad) wants me to stay longer,” said White.

“If my wife is happy here, if the president thinks that we’re going to get along well together, then yes it will be a possibility. But for the moment nothing is decided.”

White took over after the club’s 27-0 defeat at Castres on a six-month consultant’s contract with Galthie’s initial suspension prolonged on January 9.

Altrad branded former France rugby captain Galthie’s tenure as a “failure” after they lost eight out of nine matches.

Under White’s guidance Montpellier, currently eighth in the Top 14, have beaten French and European champions Toulon (16-12), but lost a French Top 14 clash at Oyonnax (20-13) and a European Challenge Cup tie at Glasgow (21-10).