Nienaber preparing for knockout rugby from day one at World Cup

It was a weekend of interesting results on the international rugby front which has reinforced Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber’s view that every match will be important at the World Cup kicking off in France next month.

Although they were all friendly games with a number of teams trying out different combinations and getting game time into some of their fringe players, it was still telling that a number of big teams were pushed to their limits.

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The All Blacks started the day by escaping with a 23-20 win over the Wallabies, before England were stunned 20-9 by Wales and France were upset 25-21 by a 14-man Scotland.

The Scottish result certainly did not go unnoticed by Nienaber, as they will be the Boks first opponent at the World Cup, in a so called ‘group of death’ that also features world number one ranked Ireland and a Tongan side bolstered by a number of former All Black and Wallaby internationals.

“We are going to be in knockout rugby from game one. Scotland is the most important game for us and we have to make sure that we peak against them,” admitted Nienaber.

“As we have said from the start Scotland is going to be a massive game for us. Like they showed today with a red card they put France to the sword. It was maybe a bit of a rotational side that France put out, but it was still a good showing from Scotland and we have to be prepared for that.”

Important game time

Nienaber explained that was the reason for the Boks using their three Rugby Championship games and this past Saturday’s first World Cup warm-up match against Argentina to get as many minutes into as many players in the squad as possible.

With the final 33-man World Cup squad being named on Tuesday, Nienaber said that they will now be focusing more on their main match 23 over the final two warm-up games against Wales and the All Blacks later this month.

“This is why it was so important to get everyone a bit of game time and not just have them training. I think now the majority of the guys have some good minutes in them and we are comfortable with where they are in terms of game readiness,” said Nienaber.

“I have to say hats off to the squad. They are under massive pressure when you don’t keep combinations consistent. That will probably change now after we have announced the World Cup squad and leading up to the World Cup.”