Rugby: White keeps it all in proper perspective

Nathan White finds his two pre-schoolers help him keep his feet on the ground. Photo / APN

Keeping some balance in his life is a great antidote for Waikato captain Nathan White.

The tighthead prop has endured some serious injury struggles which helped him with that perspective while his two pre-schoolers, Lily and Harry, give him that balance at home when he's had a mixed day at the office.

"They're always happy to see you when you've had that bad day or things have not gone that well," he said.

The youngsters have been in work the past two weeks as Waikato have faltered from their promising start to the national championship.

Tomorrow they are at home to their neighbours Counties Manukau in what should be a lively duel which doubles as a Chiefs' franchise trial.

"We have got to push on a bit," White said.

"We talked a lot about how many chances we have created but our finishing has not been up to standard.

"It is a long competition, we've got to keep working hard and you are not going to win the competition in the first four weeks but you can go a long way towards the other side."

White has taken over the captaincy for the Mooloos because of Liam Messam's work with the All Blacks and tomorrow is a serious examination of his side's bounce-back factor.

"We started with two close wins but maybe we got too far ahead of ourselves, I'm not sure. Two defeats after that have brought us back down to earth and we realise there are a few things we have to work on.

"That has probably happened at the right time of the year and we have been working extremely hard to sort them out."

Training this week had been intense and to the point. The forwards had been concentrating on set-piece and cleaning out rucks while the backs were about alignment, drawing their opponents and finishing.

"It's an easy game when you don't read too much into it," White said.

The 28-year-old was born in Hawera, where his father worked for Wrightsons, but the family soon transferred out of the area and then settled in Te Awamutu, where White played for the college 1st XV.

He made regional sides and a 2001 tour to Canada and Wales, graduated to the provincial colours then the Chiefs in 2006. But at the end of the 2007 national championship, White consulted the team physio about what he thought was a persistent hamstring problem.

"He said basically 'don't move, stay there, you are not doing anything'.

"I scratched my head and he told me why. Two weeks later, I was in for an operation for a bulging disc in my lower back. It was very frustrating because I was starting to get consistent games for Waikato and the Chiefs."

It was the start of a troubled 18 months when White recovered, played a few games but returned for a second bout of surgery on another inflamed disc.

He is now 100 per cent reconstructed without any further issues.

"Having a good back is an important piece of equipment," he said, dryly. "If you are a prop with a stuffed back you are no good to anyone."

Scrums have received some extra attention this week from Waikato's technical adviser Greg Smith while White reckons his loosies would be useful if they helped out with some shoving. Tomorrow would be a useful start.

"It is always a big one with Counties," he said. "In the last three or four years there have not been too many points in it. They have been the story of the ITM Cup and with Tana coming back in, he adds a lot of experience and leadership to a group of young guys."