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Jake White undergoes emergency abdominal surgery

By PA
:Vodacom Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White during the European Rugby Champions Cup Pool A match between Exeter Chiefs and Vodacom Bulls at Sandy Park on December 17, 2022 in Exeter, England. (Photo by Bob Bradford - CameraSport via Getty Images)

South Africa’s 2007 World Cup-winning coach Jake White has undergone emergency abdominal surgery.

The Pretoria-based Vodacom Bulls, where White is currently director of rugby, say the two-hour operation was successful.

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White, 59, complained of debilitating stomach cramps after arriving in South Africa from Wales – where the Bulls had played United Rugby Championship opponents the Dragons – on Sunday.

“It is never nice to see one of our own down, but we are extremely confident that Jake is receiving the best medical attention available, and our team of medical experts will provide him with all the necessary support he will need to make a full recovery,” Bulls chief executive Edgar Rathbone said.

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“We would like to thank the hospital team, doctors and all those who rushed to offer their expertise and helped with attending to Jake.”

Rathbone said he had visited White in hospital in Pretoria on Monday.

A statement on the Bulls’ official website read: “While recovering from the operation and going through his rehabilitation programme, White will be taking a brief break from his team duties until February 8.

“At present, the club cannot place a time-stamp on the length of this period, but will be guided by the expertise and advice of the medical staff.

“The coaching team will continue to share the responsibility of leading the team while the director of rugby is away.”

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The Bulls tackle Heineken Champions Cup opponents Exeter in Pretoria on Saturday, before visiting Lyon six days later and then facing a URC game against the Scarlets in Llanelli on January 27.

The Bulls gave their unwell director and RugbyPass columnist a timely boost by claiming a 29-14 bonus point victory away to the Dragons.

additional reporting RugbyPass

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R
RedWarriors 3 hours ago
Antoine Dupont undergoes surgery on injured knee ahead of long absence

Rugby incident, happens scores of times in a game. Dupont wasn’t even hit with much force, Beirne just clears him and force is added from behind from Furlong.

We can’t have special treatment for France just because their star is the one who gets unlucky.

There is already a lack of clarity around actual Written decisions and how they differ from bans.

For example, Mauvaka the official written decision states Mauvaka to have made a ‘reckless’, ‘deliberate’, shot ‘to the head’ of a ‘player in a vulnerable position’ on the ground. That’s a high level entry ban of 10 weeks. However, the press release did not show ‘reckless’ or ‘vulnerable player’ ticked alloweing Mauvaka to enter at the 6 match mid range.

Similarly Ntamack’s written report showed that it was a ‘reckless’, ‘head shot’ with ‘injury’. The injury was a fully displaced nose bone and Ntamack apologizes for the injury in the written report. This should give Ntamack an entry level of 6 weeks but in the Press Release ‘Injured’ is unticked meaning Ntamack gets away with a 4 week entry ban. This is not counting the fact that the world knows he deliberately injured Thomas.

No. France have been abusing the system for years, recently spreading disinformation about the Ringrose ban in order to undermine confidence in the process.

Giving France even more special treatment is not the answer.

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