Boks coach sidesteps ABs drama
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber senses the All Blacks will have added desperation for their two tests in South Africa.
The All Blacks start their Rugby Championship campaign with back-to-back tests against the world champion Boks and looking to rebound from a humiliating series loss to Ireland in New Zealand that saw head coach Ian Foster sack two of his assistants.
While the South African media have pilloried the All Blacks, Nienaber took a diplomatic approach when questioned over the rare woes for New Zealand who have dropped to fourth on the world rankings.
‘‘We try to shy away from these types of issues, to avoid what’s being said from the outside,’’ Nienaber told media in South Africa as the Boks continued their preparations on the back of a scratchy 2-1 series win over Wales.
‘‘In the end, we’re all under pressure. If we were to lose two games in a row, we’d be under immense pressure too. It is what it is.
‘‘The All Blacks will be desperate, but to be fair, the All Blacks are always desperate. They have a lot to play for, just like us.
‘‘They’re playing for their nation, just like we do. We try to keep things realistic by focusing on what we can control.
‘‘We can’t control how desperate they might be and what measures they have implemented to assist with that objective. We focus on our prep.’’
Having sacked John Plumtree and Brad Mooar, Foster has brought in Crusaders forward coach Jason Ryan and has former Irish coach Joe Schmidt stepping up his analysis role.
Ryan, in particular, will be under enormous instant pressure to revitalise a struggling All Blacks pack that will be targeted by the big Springboks unit. But, again, Nienaber didn’t see the All Blacks’ shakeup having a detrimental effect, despite the limited time to get into the groove for these two tests in Mbombela and Johannesburg.
Nienaber noted the Springboks had endured their own coaching overhaul on the eve of the last World Cup with attack coach Swys de Bruin stepping down. But they managed to win the tournament with exIreland fullback Felix Jones hurriedly stepping into that role.
‘‘If you think back to 2019, we were Rugby Championship [winners] but [only a few] games from the World Cup and the Swys [de Bruin] change happened after New Zealand,’’ Nienaber said.
‘‘There were two games against Argentina and one against Japan before we went into a World Cup and got Felix Jones in less than a month.
‘‘It is what it is; you just learn to deal with it.’’