Nienaber relieved as selection gamble pays off against Pumas

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was delighted that his gamble to bring in several fresh faces and bodies for the opening Rugby Championship Test against Argentina paid off as his team dominated the contact areas en route to a comfortable 32-12 victory.

A new front row, centre pairing and back three was chosen for a crucial Test against difficult, physical opposition just a week after the gruelling series against the British and Irish Lions.

The energy they brought paid off as the Springboks made 21 less carries than Argentina but made 112 more metres with ball-in-hand. And the Pumas are generally considered to be one of the foremost teams when it comes to carrying the ball up.

ALSO READ: Boks power to Rugby Championship win against Pumas

“We made a few changes because of player welfare and the new guys coming in were nice and fresh,” Nienaber said after Saturday’s match.

“The guys who played last Saturday against the Lions are still a bit sore, but the new guys were climbing in today and we got a lot of energy from them. It’s only the second Test Argentina have lost since the World Cup and they’ve played New Zealand, Australia and Wales all twice.

“Our analysis and game-plan was spot-on though and the players really followed through. But we are only one-third of the way through our season and we have to box smart in terms of how we keep the players fresh.”

It looked as if the Springboks would rue going to sleep a bit in the second half and not turning their dominance into more tries, and Nienaber admitted afterwards he had forgotten that the bonus point in the Rugby Championship was awarded for scoring three more tries than the opposition, and scoring four tries was not necessary.

ALSO READ: Bulls run in seven tries to down Lions in big Gauteng derby

The Springboks may have binned their marvellous display against the British and Irish Lions and were focused on defending their Rugby Championship title, but the mental challenge of getting up again after climbing such a high mountain in their last two games was also going to be a major factor against Argentina.

“We did really well because Argentina are a difficult team to play against,” Nienaber said.

“We had to try and keep our emotional intensity after the Lions series and that challenged us. We had to pull through somehow this week and I think it was a really excellent effort by the players.”

The coach said the experience of players like Frans Steyn, who shored up the inside centre channel very effectively, Jesse Kriel and Elton Jantjies had also been a big factor in the Springboks being able to celebrate another victory.

“A lot went into this week after we had a couple of beers after winning the Lions series, and there was awesome work put in by the players,” Nienaber said.

“The guys were clued up and tuned in straight away, and guys like Frans, Jesse and Elton brought nice stability. We needed some maturity out there and they brought a lot of calmness and composure.”