Western Force recruit Nic White opens up on move out west, Rugby World Cup heartbreak and Eddie Jones

Nic White has been in Perth for only a few weeks, but he has already found a favourite spot at Scarborough Beach. And just like the waves of the Indian Ocean wash away imprints on the sand the move out west is offering White a clean slate. After a wild year, with domestic bliss tinged by memories of Australia’s Rugby World Cup nightmare, the 66-cap Wallaby’s excitement of the beginning of a new chapter of his career with the Western Force is palpable. The nine with the instantly-recognisable moustache has swapped Canberra for Perth, penning a multi-year deal with the Force which will see him join arguably the country’s deepest scrum-half room, alongside fellow World Cup Wallaby Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, the experienced Ian Prior and the emerging Henry Robertson. White captained the Brumbies to the Super Rugby semifinals this year, but his arrival in WA has come at the perfect time in his career. “It’s been a lovely reset, being able to give me a little boost in energy, because off the back of that World Cup and off the back of the Wallabies season, I’m not alone in feeling a little bit down on energy and the love of the game certainly was tested there,” White told The West Australian. “But moving across here - this environment, this group - that is honestly in a box and gone. It’s behind me now. “Everything now is about moving forward. My eyes are on the prize of moving forward and helping the Western Force.” The fallout from the Wallabies’ group stage exit has focused on Eddie Jones’ decision to step aside less than 12 months into a five-year deal, amid revelations he had interviewed for the vacant Japan coaching job during the World Cup - a position Jones has since taken on. “It was pretty complex situation that World Cup. There was a lot going on, but I’m pretty keen to leave it all behind me,” White said. “Eddie’s left now and I think that’s a good thing. It’s really important we let go of getting into Eddie now. “He’s gone, he’s moved on; it’s best we do too and the best thing we can do now is look forward, look after our backyard and make sure we get better.” When White’s signing was announced by the Force mid-year, his leadership skills were trumpeted by the club, and they were put to test in France as an inexperienced Wallabies side reckoned with their World Cup fate. “It was difficult. As a bunch of blokes and leaders, I thought we did really well on monitoring who needed an arm around them,” White said. “We’d meet daily and made sure we got across the whole group because there were young guys that were certainly feeling the pinch and the pressure and needed an arm around them and it is tough and we did the best we could.” White had offers to go overseas with his Brumbies contract expiring, but he was eager to stay in Australia - and when the chance to join the Force and work with coach Simon Cron came up, the challenge excited him. “I knew from talking to a few guys that I’m close with at the Waratahs that have worked under Cronno before, how good of an operator he is and the program he’s creating here,” he said. “Staying in Australia, I’m keen to continue to push for that Australian jersey and I know there’s some big things coming up in the next while. I feel like I’ve still got a lot to give, on the field and through my experience. “Sometimes you talk to guys about rugby and it just makes sense, and that was something that I really enjoyed (with Cron). “There was no fluff, it was quick to the point, concise and made sense. I’ve been craving this sort of coaching and this sort of rugby for a while now.” Since arriving in Perth, White has been getting around town to get to know his new teammates, joining them for beach swims and coffee catch-ups. And in just a few short weeks under the harsh WA sun, White has found plenty to be optimistic about for the looming Super Rugby season in February. “There’s a really good group here of guys that you can sense have a chip on their shoulder around why they’re here and I think that’s a good thing,” White said. “There’s a lot of really motivated blokes within this group, some really good locals here and some blokes over here that are on a ‘Last Chance U’ situation and - I’m one of them to be fair. ”I was really grateful when the call came, because it was looking like I was heading overseas at one point.”