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Springboks boss Nienaber addresses growing cancellation fears over Lions tour
New Springboks boss Jacques Nienaber believes the Lions tour will still go ahead even though the Lions have just arrived in South Africa amid the implementation of further measures to stop the spread of the virus in the country. There is speculation that the Lions tour will get switched to Cape Town and take it away from the Gauteng region which is at the epicentre of growing pandemic concerns.
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The Springboks play their first Test match in 20 months under Nienaber when they take on Georgia in Pretoria on Friday night while the touring Lions are set to open their schedule in Johannesburg this Saturday against the former Super Rugby Lions. Concerns about the viability of the tour were further increased with a virus outbreak within the Springboks camp but Nienaber doesn’t believe the tour is facing cancellation.
After naming an XV to face Georgia that contains two uncapped wingers in Rosko Specman and Aphelele Fassi, Nienaber, the former defence coach under Rassie Erasmus, was asked about the viability of the Lions tour in the current climate and he was adamant it would continue to go ahead.
“Yes, definitely, because of the environment that they have established for both teams,” he insisted. “I’m not an expert in terms of Covid and viruses and virology and all that but they are trying to mitigate the risk of infection as much as they can and we adhere to those protocols as much as we can.
“From the Springboks side, there is not a player that doesn’t want to participate in this tour because it is such a special tour and it only comes around once every twelve years and you will be lucky as a Springboks player to participate in it once in your career.
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6 of the players that defeated England in November 2019 are set to start on Friday https://t.co/ID2HEbn6FP
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“Everybody is trying their utmost best to stay virus-free, Covid-free, stay within the boundaries. I don’t think with a virus you can completely take away all risks. I am not an expert in that but the precautions that people have taken to keep us as safe as possible is magical and we are obliging of that, so I can’t see the tour will be in jeopardy. We are operating as normal within our environment as much as normal as it is currently in Covid. so no I can’t see it being in jeopardy.”
Nienaber added: “As a Springboks side I must compliment all the stakeholders involved. We are in a close-knit environment and they look after the safety and the way we do things. We are fortunate in terms of that. From the country’s perspective, I must be honest I was purely focusing on this match, purely focusing on the rugby side of things, but our country moved to alert level four.
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“From a rugby side, how the Springboks are managed, it is awesome. They really look after our safety and there are good protocols in place making sure and we make sure we adhere to that to make sure that the squad is safe, that the integrity of the tournament is safe so that is pretty much from the rugby side on the covid issues.”
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 28, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Farcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
61 Go to comments