World Cup 2019 experience to give Boks the edge in Lions decider?
"In big Test matches (like the final) there is a lot at stake, so it does help having been there, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”
Siya Kolisi and his Springbok team celebrate winning the World Cup in 2019. Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images
The Springboks’ 2019 Rugby World Cup journey will “help” the Boks in this weekend’s series decider against the British and Irish Lions, but it won’t make the job any easier.
That is the view of Bok boss Jacques Nienaber ahead of the third and final Test in the series in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Lions won the first game 22-17, while the Boks hit back to triumph 27-9 last weekend.
At the 2019 World Cup – the last time they were under intense scrutiny and pressure – the Boks lost their opening pool game to New Zealand, knowing if they were to win the title they could not lose again.
And they didn’t. They edged Japan and Wales in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively and then thumped England in the final.
Two years on, and two weeks ago, the Boks found themselves in a similar situation. They’d lost the first Test and needed to win back-to-back games to take the series. Right now, they’ve only got the third Test to play.
“It was a massive game in the World Cup semi-final (against Wales), but we closed it out,” said Nienaber.
“And yes, in big Test matches (like the final) there is a lot at stake, so it does help having been there, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”
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This week Lions boss Warren Gatland hinted the Boks may have played their “final” last weekend (in the second Test to stay alive in the series) and would have used up all their emotional energy ahead of this weekend’s match.
Nienaber agreed with Gatland, saying big must-win clashes are, indeed, energy-sapping.
“Big games like this one takes a lot of energy out of you.. a lot of emotional energy,” said Nienaber.
“It is the reason why they are called Test matches… each one is a specific test, where you have to adapt, evolve and play fearlessly.
“If you fail (like the Boks did against New Zealand at the World Cup and in the first Test in this series) it means you were challenged somewhere and you can only improve and evolve if you pass the next test.
“Even last weekend (in the second Test), deep into the second half the score was 11-9; it was on a knife’s edge. Yes, there is a lot at stake each week, and there’s a lot of emotion involved, but just as we will have to handle the situation, so, too, will they have to.”
But Nienaber agreed the Boks might have the edge in what should be a huge contest.
“Our group has been there before; they have felt the butterflies. They’ve experienced this do-or-die scenario.”
