Jacques Nienaber has credited his side with being able to adapt according to their opposition.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber says the team’s style of play is less one-dimensional than critics realise, as he credited the Boks for being able to adapt to different opponents.
The Boks have had to field a lot of criticism from the international press for adopting a so-called “boring” playing style in their 2-1 series win over the British & Irish Lions, but Nienaber says there is a lot more nuance to the way they approach various opponents on the field.
“The beauty of rugby is that there are different styles to win. It would be unbelievably boring if everybody played with the same style,” he said.
“Different styles means there are different tactics. If you look at the World Cup, for instance, we played the most attacking branded side (Japan) in the quarter-finals.
“We then had to change our whole system playing against a team (Wales) with a massive kicking game in the semi-finals. We had to make plans to outsmart them.
“We then had to play an England side with a very balanced approach. We had to play against three different brands.
“Style is determined by the athletic attributes of the players, and countries have different attributes from players to amplify a particular style.”
Nienaber has opted to make a whole host of changes for Saturday’s first Rugby Championship Test against Argentina, but stressed that the players who have been “rested” still have an important role to play throughout the week.
“There are a lot of things that go into deciding whether a player can be rotated. I don’t want to use the word ‘rest’ because the players who aren’t in the 23 aren’t resting,” Nienaber added.
“They play a role in preparing the team for Saturday, so they are training as hard as the other guys.
“If one would look at it as rest, I’d call it de-load and sparing them Test match work, but they are doing preparatory work with us.”
