Damian de Allende of the Springboks (L) in action during the Rugby Championship Round 5 match between New Zealand’s All Blacks and South Africa’s Springboks . Photo: EPA/DARREN ENGLAND AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
Springboks must fire on all cylinders to beat All Blacks – Nienaber
Head coach Jacques Nienaber confident new-look Springboks team can get the job done against high-flying All Blacks.
Damian de Allende of the Springboks (L) in action during the Rugby Championship Round 5 match between New Zealand’s All Blacks and South Africa’s Springboks . Photo: EPA/DARREN ENGLAND AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
Jacques Nienaber says the revamped Springboks side selected to face the All Blacks in Auckland can secure a victory that’ll clinch the Rugby Championship title.
The Springboks thrashed Eddie Jones’ Wallabies 43-12 at Loftus in Pretoria last Saturday, while New Zealand hammered Argentina 41-12 in Mendoza.
Those results mean the showdown between the Springboks and All Blacks this coming weekend will likely be a straight shootout for the title of the truncated Rugby Championship.
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On Tuesday, Nienaber named a rejigged Springbok lineup, with 10 of the 14 players who travelled to New Zealand a week agoin his matchday squad – nine of whom will start, including locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager and the loose trio of Kwagga Smith, Franco Mostert and Jasper Wiese.
The Springboks’ hat-trick hero against the Wallabies, Kurt-Lee Arendse as well as Canan Moodie are just some of last week’s starters who miss out on selection this week.
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NIENABER ON SPRINGBOKS SELECTION
“We planned to select a squad with a few key combinations of players who are fully acclimatised and settled in in New Zealand, while also selecting some players who started last week, and we are pleased with the balance we were able to strike with this squad,” said Nienaber.
“This allows us to give some players their first taste of international rugby this season alongside a group of players who come off a physical clash against the Wallabies, and we believe this will be beneficial against a top opponent in the All Blacks.
“The fact that we can give a few other players in the bigger squad a run this weekend is fantastic as we want to give as many players as possible game time with an eye on doing well in the Rugby Championship and further ahead in the Rugby World Cup.”
Of Etzebeth’s return, Nienaber said: “Eben has been working very hard in the last few months to make a full recovery from his shoulder injury and it’s great to see him return to the field in this important fixture. He’s a vastly experienced player with 110 Test caps, he’s captained the Springboks before and he has been with the group of players in New Zealand for over a week, so he is the ideal person to lead the team this weekend.”
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SOUTH AFRICA CAN TAKE DOWN ALL BLACKS
Looking forward to the clash against the All Blacks, Nienaber expected the Boks to face a thorough test all around.
“New Zealand have a strong pack of forwards and dangerous backs, and they showed last week what they can do when they have the space to convert their chances into points.
“We need to deliver a strong performance in all departments and our defence needs to be solid against them. This is an important match for both teams with each team only playing three games in the competition this season.”
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