Boks boss Nienaber: ‘All Blacks matches will set tone for Rugby Champs’

The Springboks will go into the Rugby Championship in two weeks’ time full of confidence, but coach Jacques Nienaber has admitted the back-to-back Tests against the All Blacks hold the key to his team’s showing in the competition.

The Boks kick off their Rugby Championship campaign with a match against the All Blacks in Mbombela on August 6 and then they face the same team a week later, this time at Ellis Park in Joburg.

Nienaber knows how crucial it will be for his side to perform well against the New Zealanders, especially with three away matches to come after that Joburg Test — twice against the Wallabies in Australia and once against Argentina in Beunos Aires. The Boks then complete their fixture list with a home match in Durban against the Pumas.

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“New Zealand, Australia and Argentina will pose different challenges to Wales, and we realise the importance of hitting the ground running in the first two Tests,” said Nienaber on Saturday when he named his 41-man squad for the two home matches against the All Blacks.

“We will enter the competition with a series win against Wales, which will give us a little confidence, especially after the way we played in the deciding Test against Wales, but back-to-back matches against the All Blacks is a completely different challenge, and we know that they will come here wanting to make amends for losing their last two matches against Ireland.

“The way we perform in those Tests will set the tone for the rest of the competition.”

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Nienaber’s squad excludes Cheslin Kolbe, who has a broken jaw and will only be fit again in September, while Wales series squad members Aphelele Fassi and Marcell Coetzee have been released to the Bulls and Sharks respectively.

Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, who is also still nursing an injury, needs clearance from his French club Montpellier, before he can join the Boks. He didn’t feature at all in the Wales series.

Back in the mix are Duane Vermeulen and Frans Steyn, who were both injured and unavailable for the three Tests this month.

The Boks will assemble in Mpumalanga on Sunday and will have a training camp in Hazyview before making the journey to Nelspruit on Friday afternoon, where they will stay until the first Test against the All Blacks at the Mbombela Stadium a week later.