Boks coach: We are not Ireland

Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber has declared they will not try to copy the Irish in their upcoming Rugby Championship test against New Zealand.

South Africa will welcome the All Blacks to Mbombela Stadium on Saturday evening for the start of the 2022/23 Castle Rugby Championship campaign.

The rivalry fixture has been turned on its head with the Boks being the unusual favourites, as coach Ian Foster faces massive scrutiny following their shock series defeat to Ireland last month.

With their analysis all but wrapped up for the clash, Nienaber addressed the media earlier this week and insisted they will not be turning to the Irish playbook to try and replicate the defeat of their rivals.

"I don't think I'll go too much into what we took out of those games. Obviously, Ireland is a quality side and that's the one thing, they pitch with intensity and the execution of their plan was quite good," Nienaber said during his pre-match press conference.

"We're not Ireland; we're not Leinster, we don't play like them, but the main thing we took from that [is] whatever plan you decide to tackle the All Blacks with, you'll have to bring intensity and accuracy within that plan."

One of the Springboks' trademark weapons in their arsenal has always been mauls, which was something Ireland effected to precision in their own game to beat the Kiwis, but Nienaber is confident his counterpart would have made sure to strengthen that weakness ahead of Saturday's clash.

"I think they will be different. When you play a game and there's a weakness in your game, you fix that, so I'm sure they will be working very hard on it," he added.

Meanwhile, Nienaber has made three changes to the side that beat Wales in the Castle Lager Inbound Series in Cape Town last month, with Malcolm Marx set to collect his 50th Test Cap in place of Bongi Mbonambi, as Faf De Klerk comes in for Jaden Hendrikse and Kurt-Lee Arendse for the injured Cheslin Kolbe.

Springbok team to face New Zealand in Nelspruit:

15 - Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) - 18 caps, 12 pts (1t, 2c, 1p)

14 - Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) - 1 cap, 0 pts

13 - Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) - 28 caps, 25 pts (5t)

12 - Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) - 60 caps, 35 pts (7t)

11 - Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) - 27 caps, 100 pts (20t)

10 - Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers) - 62 caps, 633 pts (7t, 86c, 138p, 4d)

9 - Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) - 38 caps, 25pts (5t)

8 - Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers) - 13 caps, 0 pts

7 - Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) - 60 caps, 25 pts (5t)

6 - Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks) - 65 caps, 35 pts (7t)

5 - Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) - 58 caps, 25 pts (5t)

4 - Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks) - 100 caps, 15 pts (3t)

3 - Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) - 48 caps, 5pts (1t)

2 - Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) - 49 caps, 55 pts (11t)

1 - Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92) - 56 caps, 5pts (1t)

Replacements:

16 - Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks) - 50 caps, 55 pts (11t)

17 - Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) - 61 caps, 5pts (1t)

18 - Vincent Koch (Wasps) - 34 caps, 0 pts

19 - Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers) - 1 cap, 0 pts

20 - Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) - 53 caps, 5pts (1t)

21 - Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) - 21 caps, 5 pts (1t)

22 - Jaden Hendrikse (Cell C Sharks) - 4 caps, 5 pts (1t)

23 - Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) - 74 caps, 60 pts (12t)

By Web Admin