White was appointed as head coach of the national team in early 2004 following South Africa's poor performance at the 2003 World Cup and the Kamp Staaldraad scandal.

In the November Internationals, South Africa attempted a Grand Slam, beating Wales and Scotland, but losing to Ireland and England.

The 2006 season got off to a strong start with a 36–16 win over a confident Scotland contingent; fresh off the back of beating both France and England and finishing third in the Six Nations of that year.

A disappointing loss to France in Cape Town left the side bereft of confidence ahead of a Tri-Nations opener against Australia.

The matched was marred by very inaccurate play, punctuated by flyhalf Jaco Van Der Westhyzen's purported 'drop kick' just outside his 22 after fumbling the ball.

The Boks gave New Zealand a real working over at the breakdown and dominated the All Black line-out throughout; but the aforementioned ill-discipline and the sublime Dan Carter were too much to contain in the end.

Bakkies Botha injured his calf on the eve of this test requiring surgery and joined stalwart Schalk Burger as a long-term injury.

Despite this brief reprieve the beleaguered Boks seemed to undo their good work in the previous two tests in exhibiting yet another poor defensive display that harkened back to the 49–0 loss in their opening game.

A burst of three tries inside ten minutes allowed New Zealand to dominate the game and confirm their status as the preeminent force in world rugby.

Jake seemed to find the right balance in the back row and the Boks stubbornly defeated New Zealand in a disciplined and accurate display at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

The Boks rolled up to Ellis Park the following week to right the wrongs of their heartbreaking loss to Australia in their final away match; they provided another very strong showing with yet another disciplined and accurate display.

The standout feature of this match was the manner in which Solly Tyibilika outplayed his more fancied opposite George Smith – regarded by many as the greatest fetcher of his era.

With back-to-back wins over their Tri-Nations rivals Jake White decided to rest the remainder of his front line players for the up-coming End of Year Tour.

The Springboks, fielding a largely experimental side, fought hard as Habana and debutant François Steyn dotted down in the second half.

Burly prop CJ Van Der Linde punctuating the Bok's dominance in brushing aside two defenders as he burst his way through England's defensive line and dotting down for a crucial score.

Injuries to Schalk Burger (broken neck), Bakkies Botha (calf surgery), Jean De Villiers (cracked rib), Bryan Habana (cracked rib), Butch James (groin and knee), André Pretorius (groin), Joe Van Niekerk (C5 & C6 vertebrae), Jacques Cronje (cracked rib), Danie Rossouw (hamstring), Juan Smith (left quadriceps), Eddie Andrews (back), BJ Botha (back surgery), CJ Van Der Linde (Leg), Gurthro Steenkamp (broken hand), Pedrie Wannenburg (wrist surgery), Marius Joubert (fractured hand) among other lesser injuries stretched the Bok's depth to its limit.

Jake also found depth in Wynand Olivier and Pierre Spies; the former being used extensively in plugging gaps left by injuries in the backline.

Jake lamented the many lost opportunities of this campaign but was optimistic about the various changes they made to their defensive patterns and saw it as an important learning curve ahead of the World Cup the following year.

Guilty of missing several opportunities they did however leave victory late as the audacious François Steyn blasted over two monstrous drop-goals to seal the result.

This was met with staunch criticism from their SANZAR partners which went so far as John O'Neill – Head of the Australian Rugby Union – castigated South Africa for not fielding full strength sides on their away leg.

O'Neill also said the Springboks had cost Australian Rugby at least 10,000 paying customers at the test in Sydney because of their decision to leave 20 of their best players in South Africa.

Australia had an attacking line-out inside South Africa's 22, they employed a deceptive play which appeared to be a forward drive with Gregan standing afar but was instead a rouse which had Larkham cut the Boks and send Mark Gerrard over for their opening points.

From here the Australians showed just how dangerous their back division could be and scored two further tries to escape an embarrassing defeat and send off their legendary heroes with a victory.

They faced the Cheetahs at home in Canberra in a semi-final qualifier, and survived a last-minute scare when Riaan Smit's conversion attempt – which if successful would have forced the match into extra-time – hit the upright, the final score 15–13.

But the Bulls were determined to keep their unblemished finals record at home intact, and worked their way back into the game to lead 23–19 with 14 minutes to go.

Then Bulls captain Dewald Potgieter turned down three opportunities to score penalty goals, instead opting each time to go for a try, presumably to put the game beyond the Brumbies' reach.

After a successful stint with the Brumbies, White was believed to be a strong contender for the Wallabies head coaching role when Robbie Deans resigned.

[25] White's next move was to restructure the Sharks' on-field leadership; he replaced Keegan Daniel with Bismarck du Plessis as captain, and appointed Lambie, Odwa Ndungane and Jean Deysel as vice-captains.

Pat Lambie was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn bicep tendon, and Cobus Reinach fractured his hand, which would cause him to miss eight weeks.

[29] On 13 October 2014, White joined Tonga as a member of the backroom staff, and acted as a technical advisor for head coach Mana Otai for the Test Tour of Europe.