Nienaber: Why Springboks have diffused their World Cup bomb squad
Jacques Nienaber has explained why the Springboks have diffused their successful World Cup bomb squad tactic and reverted to a replacements bench of five forwards and three backs to take on the Lions this Saturday rather than stick with the six/two split that paid rich dividends 20 months ago in Japan.
Beaten in their World Cup opener by the All Blacks having used a five/three bench split, the Springboks opted to go with a six-two divide for their four other huge matches en route to glory, the pool win over Italy followed by the successes against Japan, Wales and England in the knockout stages.
The bench didn’t change for any of those four matches as Herschel Jantjies and Frans Steyn were the two backs to provide cover along with the same half-dozen forwards – Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert and Francois Louw – coming on to help physically dominate their opponents.
Nienaber was never in the position to select the entire same replacements bench to start this Lions series 20 months later. Back-rower Louw has retired from playing, Koch tested positive for Covid, Snyman has been on a cruel run with injuries, while Mostert has a place secured in the starting team.
However, the new head coach could have replicated the same six/two forwards/backs split and heaped the pressure on the Lions pack for the closing 30 minutes by having a half-dozen forwards enter the fray, Nienaber eventually ruled against it for fear the Springboks could be caught short in their backs.
? TEAM NEWS: ?
Springboks roll out their RWC stars to face the Lions in Cape Town this Saturday
#LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021https://t.co/V1dBOCptOP— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 20, 2021
Along with Herschel Jantjies, Nienaber has chosen Elton Jantjies and Damian Willemse to provide backs cover, leaving him with just five forwards in reserve on this occasion – regulars Marx and Kitshoff, 2019 final starters Frans Malherbe and Lood de Jager along with versatile back-rower Rynhardt Elstadt. Explaining the logic of his five/three decision, the Springboks head coach said: “Obviously we will go with a six/two split if it’s available to us, but Handre (Pollard) hasn’t been involved in a lot of rugby.
“He has just come back from Covid. (Makazole) Mapimpi is the same, so we just thought it’s not the right time to go with just two backs on the bench. The thing about a six-two split, if it is available and we are comfortable with it we will go with a six/two split, but we felt in this specific game it wasn’t an opportunity for us.
“Rynhardt Elstadt does provide us with that (flexibility) luxury to go with the six/two split and it’s maybe something we will look at going with in the future, but circumstances and players available and roles that they need to fulfil, maybe some players carrying a niggle and you are not 100 per cent sure or confident they would last the 80 minutes, then you don’t go with a six/two split.”
Is this the crucial decision that will tip the outcome of the Test series in favour of the Lions?#LionsSA2021 #LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries
https://t.co/IYoqgyYd3G— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 20, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
2 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments