Nienaber scratches head as opening Test looms
Boks coach says ‘proper review’ needed before facing British & Irish Lions
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber’s selection options were significantly trimmed as his South Africa A team suffered a mildly embarrassing 17-14 defeat to the Bulls on Saturday.
To be fair‚ the all-conquering Bulls are a tight-knit group under Jake White and it showed in the second half as they overturned a 14-0 deficit into victory. It has left Nienaber scratching his head ahead of this Saturday’s opening Test against the British & Irish Lions in Cape Town.
“I wanted the guys to stake a claim for selection for next week’s Test and unfortunately‚ not everyone did that‚ but I am not going to discuss individuals any comments on them will be emotional‚ because we are hurting‚” said Nienaber.
“As a team‚ the performance was not there‚ and I blame myself for that as well. The lack of dominance from our pack was not what we had expected. With the late confirmation of the game‚ we also did not do any analysis on the Bulls and that showed‚ while I did expect a better setpiece platform.”
The A-team’s line-out was a shambles‚ while the Bulls increasingly made gains on the deck as the match wore on. The Bulls were very much in the ascendancy for large parts of the second half.
This served to underline that the players under Nienaber’s tutelage are in desperate need of game time. Injuries‚ Covid-19 and its cumbersome protocols will limit his options when he tries to assemble his team for the first Test.
“As there were places up for grabs in the Test team‚ we will do a proper review‚” he said. At the moment‚ we have two hookers out due to Covid protocols (Bongi Mbonambi and Scarra Ntubeni)‚ and we needed to see what Joseph Dweba and Fez Mbatha can do.
“And another couple of players got some valuable game time Damian (De Allende) played 60 minutes‚ Kwagga (Smith) 80‚ and Damian Willemse had another run at centre.”
Mbonambi and Ntubeni aren’t the only players who have to bide their time.
Bok captain Siya Kolisi and Makazole Mapimpi are also doubtful starters next week‚ while Willie le Roux is on the cusp of being restored to fitness.