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The Nienaber reaction to Steve Hansen's 'Boring Boks' accusation

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Springboks boss Jacques Nienaber has given his reaction to the latest criticism of his team’s style of play, ex-All Blacks coach Steve Hansen using a radio show appearance over the weekend in New Zealand to unload on the standard of rugby played by South Africa and the Lions in their recent three-match Test series.

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The Springboks bounced back to win the series 2-1 after losing the opening Test on July 24, but the spectacle was far from pretty and the lack of entertainment was widely criticised in the aftermath. Hansen has now joined this lengthy queue of Springboks critics by attacking the approach of Nienaber and Lions boss Warren Gatland in the series.

“You have got two big packs and two coaches who don’t have any belief in what is going to happen if they throw the ball around, so they just beat each other up,” alleged Hansen. “‘Let’s slow the ball down, let’s get off our feet, do whatever we can to make sure our defensive line is stable so we can keep battering’.

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“It’s not a game that anybody wants to watch. Yes, we want a good physical contest, that is what the game is about – physicality, speed, using the ball and skill. Could you say we saw that in that series? Of course we didn’t and it turned a lot of people off.”

With the Springboks having emerged from their recent 23-hour in-room isolation in rude health following the cancellation of their planned Monday training session in Queensland, Nienaber fronted a virtually held media session on Tuesday on how his squad have been settling in since flying to Australia last Thursday from Cape Town on a charter flight shared with Argentina.  

Both teams are now quarantining in the same shared facility ahead of their next Rugby Championship matches on the Gold Coast on September 12 and aside from being quizzed on what that settling-in period has been like, Nienaber was also asked about the negative Hansen reflection on the style of Springboks play and whether he is getting tired of comments like this. “Yes,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t see the comment. With everything that has happened to us and the quarantine stuff and us doing our review and having our goal for this week and what we have to produce as a team, I didn’t see Steve’s comments. 

“But for me on playing styles, as I have said in the past, each team has its own squad, has its own skill set and will have its own unique athletic ability and DNA and they will play towards what strengths their DNA. That is the beauty of rugby. It’s the different styles and different ways to win Test matches. You play what you see in front of you and then you have to adapt to that. 

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“In 2019, I don’t want to go back to that continuously but in the quarter-finals, we played one of the most exciting, most attacking teams in Japan. Then in the semi-final, we had to adapt and change our way of playing to play against Wales and it was pretty much this massive arm wrestle. Then we played England which was probably a good blend between the two, between Japan and Wales. 

“They had a good kicking game, a good defence system, put you under pressure in various ways. Not that the others don’t do it but, as I say, each team has got its own DNA and your ability to adapt to that and also play to your strengths and your DNA, pretty much every team in the world is going to do that.”

Nienaber was speaking from Australia at a media conference he shared with the fit-again Duane Vermeulen, the 2019 World Cup final man of the match who hasn’t played since for his country as he was left requiring ankle surgery following a June injury while playing for the Bulls in the lead-up to the Springboks’ July Test match resumption after a 20-month layoff between fixtures due to the pandemic. 

Both South Africans sounded delighted to be on the ground in Australia preparing for the Springboks’ four remaining Rugby Championship matches, two games each against the Wallabies and the All Blacks. However, neither were willing to take any questions at the session regarding the upcoming misconduct case featuring Rassie Erasmus and SA Rugby.

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Director of rugby Erasmus fell foul of World Rugby during the Lions series with his trenchant criticism of the match officials and while his actions remain a major talking point for rugby fans around the world, the hot topic was off-limits at the Springboks press conference, media manager Rayaan Adriaanse explaining at the start of the briefing that no questions on Erasmus, who hasn’t travelled to Australia, were welcome. 

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Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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