Book Review: In Black and White – The Jake White Story

After having placed my order through Kalahari.net for my Jake White book, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. And what a read it was. I honestly couldn’t put the book down for 2 weeks (ok, so I did to sleep).

The book covers everything from Jake’s days at Jeppe right through to winning the world cup. It even goes on to include his reasons behind his recent resignation. What was interesting is the bonds he built with specific players in the team. What many of us don’t realise is that a large majority of the world cup squad was made up of Jake Whites 2002 U-21 World Cup winning squad. He built personal relationships with the players, which as we have seen, has benefited the team, and players.

I got a pingback from Henre’s blog this morning, questioning the timing of the release of the book. Its perfect. Who wouldn’t want to read the stories from the inner sanctums of SA rugby, while finding out about a world cup winning squad. The story may have been a whole lot more different if we didn’t win the world cup, but the whole story before the World Cup win is just as intriguing. All just before Christmas. The publishers have already sold out of the first print of 60,000 160,000 (thanks Henre) copies, and more are being printed. If you would like a stocking filler, that will keep you occupied on the beach, get this book.