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'Two poor games away from being fired - that's the reality'

By Rugby365
(Photo by Patrick Hamilton/AFP via Getty Images)

Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber has refused to speculate on what is going on inside the All Blacks camp but admitted that he understands the pressure that comes with defeats. The rugby world is eager to see if Ian Foster’s side can bounce back after their demoralising 1-2 series against Ireland in July.

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Foster’s future as All Blacks head coach has dominated headlines over the last weeks and there have been questions around whether New Zealand have the players to get back on top. Having named a Springboks team showing three changes from their last outing versus Wales, Nienaber was asked for his thoughts on the All Blacks in the lead-up to this Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener in Nelspruit.

If I comment on what is happening in their camp and how he [Foster] feels then that will be speculation,” explained Nienaber. “I don’t know what their deal is or how things operate between him and the CEO.

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“As coaches and players, we know that when you represent your county there is always going to be pressure. If you are a coach or a player you are two poor games from being dropped and you are two poor games away from being fired. That is the reality and one lives with that.”

Nienaber also shared his observations from the Ireland series that the All Blacks lost. “Ireland are a quality side and they pitch up with intensity and their execution was quite good in the plan they had.

“We are not Ireland, we are not Leinster and we don’t play like them, but the main thing that we took out of that is whatever plan you decided on for the All Blacks, you will have to bring intensity and you will have to bring accuracy.”

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The Springboks will also be encouraged by the way Ireland used their mauls to good effect against the All Blacks. “You must have balance and Ireland had balance. They scored with maul tries, but they also had other means of attacking.

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“The lineout maul will always be a big part of the game and it’s an exciting part of the game because there are a lot of technical and tactical decisions you have to make as a defensive side in terms of how you are going to control that. That might open up space somewhere else which you can attack if you want to.”

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This 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”?

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