Ben White interview: How World Cup has proved excellent tonic to London Irish disaster
The Scotland scrum-half has jumped from the maelstrom of London Irish’s administration to the vortex of the Rugby World Cup – through securing his membership future with Toulon.
When White misplaced his job together with everybody at Irish simply three months in the past, the 25-year-old needed to fret on his livelihood when he ought to have been free to concentrate on the World Cup.
Scotland’s pool of loss of life battle stepped up one other notch in mild of Sunday’s 18-3 defeat by reigning champions South Africa, however White insists Gregor Townsend’s facet can nonetheless attain the quarter-finals.
Scotland face a brief break earlier than taking over Tonga on September 24, with Romania after which the crunch Pool B conflict with Ireland nonetheless to return.
The Scots blew two gilt-edged first-half probabilities that had been splendidly crafted earlier than being overwhelmed by South Africa, leaving White inspired by the attacking intent.
“It’s been a whirlwind six months, but I’m focused on moving forward,” White tells Standard Sport.
“Being here with this squad is something I’m incredibly proud of. And being signed for a club like Toulon is another fantastic opportunity for me.
“I’m just focused on living my rugby right now, and just being the best individual I can be.
“When something like that happens it puts into perspective how quickly it can be taken away from you. And I’m doing what I love, I’m proud of being here and am determined we make the absolute best of our chances. And I’m looking forward to the opportunity to play for Toulon as well.”
If Darcy Graham had shipped another cross to Duhan Van Der Merwe, Scotland would have opened the strive scoring at Stade Velodrome. And had Huw Jones held Finn Russell’s flat ball on the gainline, Scotland might have crossed there too.
Townsend’s males play with superlative attacking traces and ambition, however White admitted now they need to hone the configuration.
“Against the top teams in the world you’ll get two or three chances and you have to be accurate enough to take them,” says White.
“We missed one or two chances and we probably couldn’t keep the possession we wanted in our game, which is what we pride ourselves on.
“We didn’t even play our best rugby and we were there or thereabouts in that first-half. We’ve definitely got a lot to improve, but we showed glimpses, and we have to take those opportunities moving forward.”