Nienaber excited by daunting Boks task
Let’s use Man U: It is difficult to take over from Alex Ferguson
● When you’re at the top, new Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber points out not so cheerily, your range of movement is rather limited.
Nienaber has inherited a team at the summit of the sport. The Boks are Rugby World Cup (RWC) champions and they’re the topranked team on the planet. How is he to top that? Maybe ask the All Blacks?
“Let’s use the example of Manchester United,” said Nienaber.
“It is difficult to take over from Alex Ferguson. It is difficult to take over from Rassie (Erasmus). He achieved so much in a short space of time. Not just with the Boks.
“It is a difficult gig not just for me but the team as a whole. What are you going to improve? You can stay the same or become weaker. That’s your fate,” he said in a tone not nearly as fatalistic as that sounds.
Nienaber explains the situation is worsened by the SA character trait of digging deep only when the chips are down. “South Africans generally get fired up with a ‘now we’ll show them’ mentality. To ‘go and show them’ you first have to perform poorly. We can’t draw energy from that now. We need to commit ourselves to being consistently good. How do you do that? I don’t know. I don’t think our players know either.
“That is the daunting part, as well as the exciting part.”
Nienaber, who came to the job having never previously served as a head coach, says advice is easily obtainable, like when former England football coach Fabio Capello dispensed some sage remarks in Monte Carlo last week. He insists however he and his team need to figure things out for themselves.
His immediate challenge in the two-Test series against Scotland in July will be to get the team as close to the levels of intensity and coherence they displayed in the latter stages of last year’s RWC. He knows all too well it took the Boks 20 weeks to hone their fundamental skill set last year.
“It is normal not to start at that same level. You only get the player a week before the first Test. At the same time we won’t fall below where we started last year.
“There is a certain flow we have to follow to get to our last Test of the year against Wales which is outside the Test window. We made it clear to the players they have a tremendous responsibility building towards the series against the British and Irish Lions and the RWC in that first Test against Scotland.”
Selection net to be cast wide again
With only Tendai Mtawarira, Francois Louw, Schalk Brits and potentially Frans Steyn having quit the Boks after the RWC, one would have assumed Nienaber would draw comfort from tried and tested players.
Instead, the selection net will again be cast wide. “After 2021 we will lose more players. Very few guys are going to produce at the 2023 RWC unless they have 25, 30 Tests under the belt,” said the coach.
“Our strategic goal is to win. We created a platform of euphoria by winning. We have to win, while we transform, while we grow a squad and while we bring depth to those players who we want to get into the team,” he explained.
With Erasmus set to continue his paternal role in the team, Nienaber’s transition to the coaches’ box, by his own admission, is a little uncertain.
He explained the complexities of the change. “Rassie asked, three or so minutes before he sent Herschel (Jantjies) on in the RWC final if I thought we should empty our bench. I asked him what the score was. I did not have a clue. I knew we were leading. I didn’t know by how much or how much time was left because you are so process driven.
“You never looked at where the ball is moving. You are always a few seconds behind. Your eyes will stay on a ruck even if the ball has reached No 12 to make sure everyone is up and running. You are not in the game.
“In my position, however, it was convenient to relay messages. To lose that which I’ve been skilled in since 1995 next to the field, as well as Rassie’s skill set or eye for identifying certain things would be sad.
“I will definitely be asking him what I should look for.”
There is a certain flow we have to follow
Jacques Nienaber
Springbok coach
“You can stay the same or become weaker. That’s your fate,” he said in a tone not nearly as fatalistic as that sounds