Boks need to shore up defence before 2023 World Cup — Nienaber

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber admitted that the team’s defence was not at the required level it needs to be, if they are to retain their World Cup title in France next year.

Speaking ahead of the Boks Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday, Nienaber explained that defence statistics could be misleading, but the team needed to improve on it over the rest of the season.

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“To be honest with you, I don’t know what the stats are currently. If you asked me what our tackle completion rate is, I wouldn’t be able to tell you,” said Nienaber.

“It’s actually not a stat I focus on because it’s a bit misleading. You could concede four maul tries, have them all converted and be 28-0 behind without actually missing a tackle.

“Are we where we should be, particularly in terms of winning a World Cup? Probably not. There are a couple of reasons for that.”

Nienaber continued: “One of them is selection continuity, which hasn’t always been a big focus this season because we’ve perhaps focused a bit broader and we’ve picked a few rookies who’ve had to perform in very high-stakes situations, like an Elrigh Louw, Canan Moodie and Jaden Hendrikse.” 

“With consistency in selection comes consistency in performance. I’m definitely not covering for the defence, but there are reasons for us not quite maintaining our usual standards. 

“There are definitely performance-based stats that we do look at when it comes to tackling and defence, but not the normal tackle completion rates. There are other key performance indicators that we look at. But I can safely say we’re not at the level where we need to be.”

Massive importance

With just two games left in the Rugby Championship and all four teams still in with a chance of taking the title, this weekend’s match is massively important for both teams, but particularly for the hosts as they end their campaign in Durban next weekend.

The Pumas will thus be desperate to get the win to put them in the pound seats ahead of the final round, while the Boks will be eager to keep the momentum going with another win to take into their home clash next weekend.

“This is a game Argentina will definitely target. If you look at their squad selection, it’s definitely a sign of that,” said Nienaber.

“We are under no illusion in terms of what we are going to get. We are up against a physical Argentinian side that has knocked off Australia and New Zealand. They would love to knock us off as well.

“That’s why we are treating this as a semi-final, but it’s also important for us to test players, to see how they will handle this pressure situation. There will be a lot of heat in this game. This is an ideal game to see if players are capable of handling a hostile environment.”