Springboks blame game: 'I obviously did some big things wrong'
Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber has insisted his squad are ready to battle the Lions despite Saturday’s embarrassing 17-14 defeat in Cape Town for South Africa A versus Jake White’s Bulls who came from a 14-point interval deficit to surge to victory with a power-packed scoring burst in the last 15 minutes.
Having defeated the Lions 17-13 last Wednesday, Nienaber wanted another South Africa A fixture to ensure as many players as possible in the virus-hit Springboks squad got some game time in the run-up to the three-game Test series against the Lions which begins in Cape Town next Saturday.
However, the last thing he would have bargained for was a South Africa A matchday squad containing nine 2019 World Cup-winning Springboks to lose to a franchise team that only last month were hammered by Italian side Benetton in the final of the Rainbow Cup.
Nienaber accepted that the blame for the defeat, the second successive match in which South Africa A were held scoreless, should lie with him but in his defence, he explained that it wasn’t until lunchtime Friday that the official confirmation came through that his squad would play the Bulls as he claimed there was still a chance at that stage they could instead be facing the Lions, something the tourists insisted on Thursday would definitely not be happening.
Midfielder Damian de Allende, hooker Joseph Dweba and flanker Marco van Staden were the three repeat South Africa A starters from the win over the Lions who were starting a game for the second time in three days and converted tries from Aphelele Fassi and Wandisile Simelane had them 14 points clear at the break.
MATCH REPORT:
There has been a shock result in Cape Town just seven days before the Springboks open the Test series versus the Lions #LionsRugby #LionsSA2021
https://t.co/2fGndXF0am— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 17, 2021
However, they failed to push on and were suckered by late converted tries from Keagan Johannes and Johan Grobbelaar before Chris Smith fired over a long-range 75th-minute penalty winner following a scrum infringement. Asked if this 17-14 South Africa A loss was an acceptable way for the Springboks to prepare for the Lions series, Nienaber said: “Are we ready? Yes, this was exactly what we wanted, not the loss but the game to give guys their opportunity to stake their claims for the Test in a week’s time.
“The result didn’t go our way, not what we hoped for but we got a lot of answers in terms of the questions that we had over certain players. We knew the Bulls is the best franchise in South Africa and hats off to them for giving us this game and we needed a game to give answers and I felt we got a lot.
“You sit here quite emotional after a performance like that and if you give comments on individuals now it will be emotional comments. We have to go back and have a look at the game and have a look at individual performances. As a team, the performance wasn’t there. Some of them might have performed individually well but it didn’t come out as a team.
“It’s not the right place to go into individuals and say this guy or that guy (played well or poorly), but I felt we needed these questions asked of players under pressure to get some answers… I thought the Bulls were good and they were desperate. We knew they were going to be desperate. I have coached teams who have played national teams and your desperation levels are through the roof.
“The first finger must point at us as management, myself as the head coach. I obviously did some big things wrong in the build-up to this game. The Bulls were good. It’s sad to say but they were more desperate than us and it starts with me,” continued Nienaber, the Springboks defence coach before his promotion last year to the head coach role.
“We only found out Friday lunchtime (that South Africa A would play the Bulls) and we didn’t do any analysis on them and yes, our pack wasn’t dominant. Normally we would do proper analysis on a team, how they contest, how they stop mauls, what their tactics are at scrum time. We didn’t do any of that because we just didn’t have time to analyse them because we only played on Wednesday.
“We are not looking for excuses but if you ask me did I expect a better pack performance in terms of set-pieces, yes. Definitely, we expected a proper set-piece platform for us to launch our attack off which we didn’t get today.”
Asked what the status was regarding the speculation the second and third Test games versus the Lions would be played in Cape Town rather than in Johannesburg as currently scheduled, Nienaber added: “I have got no clue. I try and stay clear of that as much as possible.
“For us as coaches, we just need to play. I am sure these organisers and medical committees will monitor those things and we must just trust their guidance and their feedback. Our job is to make sure we get this ready for Saturday. I don’t mind if we play in Cape Town or in Jo’burg.”
Townsend made himself very busy during his week in Lions self-isolation and it should concern the Springboks ahead of the Test series #LionsRugby #LionsSA2021
https://t.co/xoQrCjyPQJ— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 16, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Christie 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.
44 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.
5 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.
44 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? 😂
44 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 commentsThis is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
4 Go to commentsBut here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.
44 Go to commentsIt could be coincidental or prescient that the All Blacks most dominant period under Steve Hansen was when the Crusaders had their least successful period under Todd Blackadder and then the positions reversed when Razor took over the Crusaders.
44 Go to commentsDefinitely sound read everybodyexpects immediate results these days, I don't think any team would travel well at all having lost three of the most important game changers in the game,compiled with the massive injury list they are now carrying, good to see a different more in depth perspective of a coaches history.
3 Go to commentsSinckler is a really big loss for English rugby.
2 Go to comments