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Nienaber directly addresses the Handre Pollard conspiracy theory
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has refuted any conspiracy theories doing the rounds regarding the composition of his 33-man World Cup squad.
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Nienaber sat down with the media on Saturday at the Intercontinental Hotel at OR Tambo International Airport ahead of his team’s big send-off.
They fly out to the UK for their final two warm-up matches against Wales on August 19 and New Zealand on August 25 before heading to Corsica for their training camp ahead of the World Cup.
“I think there are a lot of rumours flying around about the squad and about the players and that we have plotted to take four nines and we are going to get Handre in,” Nienaber said.
“And I think one must take time and explain it. If there are no injuries, this whole squad of 33 will come back.
“And the thing about Handre is that he is currently not injured, in other words, he is over his injury. He trained with us for two sessions now.
“But he is still on his way back.
“We have six years of data in terms of what he needs to do during a week to give us an opportunity to win a game.
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“That might be metrics like how many kilometres he has covered, how much high-speed running he has done, how much acceleration and deceleration he needs to perform during a week to get him to perform physically on a weekend.
“Handre currently is probably at 20 to 25 percent. He has done two sessions with us, one attack session and one defence session.
“Lukhanyo is injured and he is still in the process of recovery from the injury.
“If he is recovered from the injury, he will go into ‘return to play’. Handre has recovered from his injury, he is now in ‘return to play’.
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“We can push Handre to 80 percent, but I can promise you, the risk of us then losing him in the next three to four weeks is high. It’s a numbers game,” the coach explained.
The Springboks have not officially submitted their final squad to World Rugby as it only needs to be in by August 21 and Nienaber feels they are on track with their planning.
“We are all playing warm-up games, and history tells you that we normally lose a player or two due to injury.
“The public expects him to be the Pollard that won the World Cup in 2019, they don’t care that he hasn’t played in 16 weeks.
“And we are building him up to that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Fiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to comments