Rugby-White to help Tonga on northern hemisphere tour

CAPE TOWN, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Tonga have roped in former South Africa coach Jake White as a technical advisor for their tour of the northern hemisphere in November and hope to "suck him dry" of his rugby knowledge as they build towards next year's World Cup. White led the Springboks to the 2007 World Cup title in France and recently left the Sharks Super Rugby franchise citing a desire to return to the international stage. That has come quickly in the form of an advisory role to Tonga coach Mana Otai as he prepares for matches against Georgia, the United States and Scotland on successive Saturdays starting on Nov. 8. "It'll be just a month where we'll try to suck him dry of information, talk to him about World Cup preparation and get him to assist the coaches in any way he can while he's there," Tonga's high-performance director Peter Harding told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Thursday. Harding did not rule out a role for White beyond next month but said Tonga would be hard-pressed to beat off expected interest from elsewhere. "It'll just be the northern hemisphere tour at the moment. Someone of Jake's standing and qualifications will get all sorts of offers next year," he added. (Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)