Nienaber focusing on the pressure Boks can control ahead of Wallabies clash

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber is remaining as calm as possible despite mounting pressure from back home ahead of the Boks Rugby Championship match against the Wallabies in Sydney this coming weekend.

It has been a poor season so far by Springbok standards, with the teams win percentage at just 50% after three wins and three losses, while Nienaber’s personal win percentage with the Boks has dropped to just 58%.

The past weekend’s loss to the Wallabies was the Boks second in a row and leaves them rooted to the bottom of the Rugby Championship table.

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This has led to noise from fans, pundits and journalists growing, who are unhappy seeing the Boks losing games that they are expected to win, and underperforming ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

However when asked in their team announcement press conference whether he was feeling the heat, Nienaber claimed that the only heat that felt was the heat generated by themselves.

“I think the pressure that I and the team feels is the pressure that we put on ourselves and that’s because of our losses. But we all feel pressure, because we are representing our country and we want to produce (positive results),” explained Nienaber.

“The pressure (for us) is trying to get solutions for the next game. So it isn’t pressure from the outside for us, but internal pressure.

“No coach can control the outside pressure, and that will come, it comes with the territory and we live and we die by that pressure. But if you start focusing on that pressure I think then you focus on the wrong things.”

Nienaber continued: “We focus on our internal pressure, which are the things we want to achieve and the things that we want to get right and that’s the pressure that we can control and do something about.

“The external pressure will always be there and this week it will be on is. It is on all coaches. If you lose two games there’s going to be external pressure on you. But the key thing for me personally and for us as coaches and players, is to focus on the pressure that we can control.”

Must win match

The coming weekend’s clash against the Wallabies is an extremely important one for the Boks as they know another loss could effectively end their challenge for the Rugby Championship title, while a win will keep them in the hunt.

“I think it’s a must win (weekend) for all the teams. We are halfway through the Rugby Championship and it (the log) is very tight currently,” said Nienaber.

“Everybody is close to one another and I think whichever team wants to win the Rugby Championship needs to probably win the last three games, so we are all in the same boat.”