Nienaber hails fantastic win but wants Boks to be even more ruthless

By SABC Sport
26th August 2023

Jacques Nienaber was understandably pleased with the outcome of Friday's record victory over the All Blacks at Twickenham, but there were still too many missed opportunities for his liking.

Nienaber was proud of his charges after their 35-7 drubbing of New Zealand in their final Rugby World Cup warm-up game but was quick to point out there was still work to do before they arrived in France and attempted to defend their title.

A Springbok coach demanding even more after a historic win over the All Blacks may not be a common sight, but such is the depth of talent in this current South African squad, that Nienaber's words rung true.

And while Bok captain Siya Kolisi may have lifted the Qatar Airways Cup by winning this one-off clash, it's a different trophy that Nienaber and co have their eyes on.

The Bok coach said one of the main work-ons for the team leading up to their opening Rugby World Cup clash against Scotland in Marseille on Sunday, 10 September, was to round off the opportunities they create after allowing several chances to go begging in London.

This was despite the Springboks outscoring the All Blacks five tries to one.

"This was a proper test, and it was exactly what we wanted before the World Cup," said Nienaber. "Wales play a different style of rugby to New Zealand, who pride themselves on their high intensity and high tempo game, so it was good preparation for us.

"That said, we have hard work ahead before the World Cup. We had several opportunities to score tries which we didn't convert, so we'll zoom in on that in Corsica and hopefully we can improve on that before our opening match."

Twickenham was bursting at the seams with more than 80 000 fans, many of them South African, and Springbok captain Siya Kolisi was quick to acknowledge the support.

"It was amazing to see the number of South Africans lining the streets on the way to the stadium. The coaches told us before the match that whenever we need them they are here for us, and they came out strongly today," he said.

"That's why we couldn't hold back in this match, we had to give it all, and we did that as a team."

The Springboks made a last-minute change to their match-day 23 following the late injury withdrawal of Willie le Roux, bringing in Kwagga Smith for a split of seven forwards and just one backline player.

"It was an unfortunate incident and we didn't want to risk Willie," Nienaber said.

"With the way games have been playing out, there are times when your forwards have to play in the backline, and this offered us the same option.

"It gave us a taste of how to manage things if we perhaps get an injury in a match. Obviously, the least risk would be selecting a five-three split, and a six-two split holds a little more risk, and then a seven-one split is the most-high risk."

The Springboks will depart for a week-long training in Corsica on Saturday and will arrive at their Rugby World Cup base in Toulon on Sunday, 3 September.