'We were bold, not bold, but...': Springboks hail their bomb squad
Springboks boss Jacques Nienaber has hailed the impact of his South African bench, the rookie head coach deploying his bomb squad to match-winning effect to defeat the All Blacks in a round six Rugby Championship thriller on the Gold Coast. There have been questions about the coach’s sideline calls in the run of three recent defeats, the 2019 world champions losing two of those games to late penalty kicks.
However, Nienaber was far more proactive when calling the shots in his team’s rematch with the 2021 Rugby Championship title winners, the Springboks refusing to blink and eventually securing a last-gasp 31-29 clock-in-the-red victory over New Zealand with a kick from replacement Elton Jantjies.
A week ago in the 19-17 loss in Townsville, Jantjies was left rooted to the bench as an unused sub. However, he was thrown into the Gold Coast fray with more than a half-hour still to play and was soon wielding a positive influence, providing the pass for Makazole Mapimpi to score a try before going on to land nine crucial points – including the winning penalty kick.
This added bomb squad impetus from the Springboks bench wasn’t solely restricted to Jantjies either. Frans Steyn was a half-time introduction for Willie le Roux at full-back. And Nienaber also boldly whipped off his entire starting front row just 38 minutes into the contest, sending on Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx and Vincent Koch for Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Trevor Nyakane at a junction in the game where they trailed 20-11 and looked like getting overrun by an All Blacks team that was three tries to one to the good heading towards the beak.
When the dust settled on an epic, Nienaber addressed the influence wielded by his earlier than expected bomb squad tactical changes, Springboks players who had a huge involvement in wrestling back the momentum during a key period of the game and then having the steel to stay standing when going toe-to-toe with New Zealand coming down the finishing straight.
Did Elton Jantjies just come full circle with the South African rugby public? Yes, we think he did. #RSAvsNZL https://t.co/NP6sic6kpR
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 2, 2021
“Last week we wanted to bring Elton on earlier and I said to him afterwards on the field as well I should have bitten the bullet,” he admitted, holding his hand up at his post-match briefing about how he got some things wrong seven days earlier in the round five encounter with the All Blacks. “I thought we got that a bit better today, the subs. The front row substitution, we see it as a group, they work in tandem. The first group were asked to do a specific job and once they have done that then the next group can come on.
“Sometimes it is at 35 minutes, sometimes it’s going to be at 38 minutes, sometimes it is going to be at 50 minutes, sometimes it is going to be at 60 minutes. The moment we feel they have done their part we will bring the other guys on. I thought they literally emptied their tanks with what they were trying to do. We were bold, not bold, but they did their job and that is when that substitution happened. We must never keep a substitution on the bench. They are there fulfil a role and I thought they were excellent when they came on.”
Switching to the impact made by 34-year-old veteran Steyn, who only played the last ten minutes in Townsville but was present for the full second-half on the Gold Coast, Nienaber added: “I thought Frans was brilliant and listen, sometimes players make errors. I thought Willie had a few good touches in the game where he really got us in there. That one cross-kick to (Makazole) Mapimpi, that ball bounces a little bit to the right and Mapimpi scores so I thought there was some good play from him but like I said, I felt last week we could have made our subs a little bit earlier.
“We have got quality players on the bench who can really influence the game. Frans has got this unbelievable ability in terms of kicking this 50:22s and it’s something we utilised. I thought Frans was good and he had been training well, excellently during the last four weeks. Very positive. He contributed, helping younger players. He has been awesome for us.”
Look what it means to Frans Steyn ?
?? @StanSportAU pic.twitter.com/a02pSA4s2J
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 2, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
I think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, 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 comments