Nienaber reveals what Boks must guard against in last tour Test

The Springboks won’t only have an All Blacks battle on their hands in the Gold Coast on Saturday, they’ll also be fighting homesickness.

And this, according to head coach Jacques Nienaber, is one of the biggest obstacles they’ll have to overcome in the next few days, before the Boks head home – to their loved ones and familiar surroundings.

The players and management team have spent the last four months nearly in a bio-secure bubble because of Covid-19 protocols, going back to before the series against the British and Irish Lions in July.

Following the build-up to that series and the bubble in Cape Town, the Boks moved to Gqeberha for Tests against Argentina and then the world champions headed to Australia for matches against the Wallabies and All Blacks, and have been based in the Brisbane area.

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“There is excitement in the squad that the tour is almost at its end,” Nienaber said ahead of Saturday’s return match against the New Zealanders.

While the Boks beat Argentina in back-to-back Tests in Gqeberha, they have lost all three matches on tour – two to the Wallabies and one to the All Blacks.

“The challenge for us (this weekend) is to remember we’re in Australia when we go out onto the pitch.”

Nienaber, a former defence coach of the Stormers, said he remembers well how some players felt at the end of a long Super Rugby tour of Australasia.

“At the end of those tours (which often lasted four weeks) the guys would have one foot back in South Africa,” he said.

“We must stay in the now. It has been long, and it has taken some getting used to.

“When you think back to the first lockdown, those first four to five weeks, and not being allowed to go anywhere… remember how that felt, being stuck in your house.

“For us it’s been 14, 15 weeks now. Only in the last three weeks in Australia have we been able to move around a bit, get out of the hotel.”

The “freedom” though ended on Tuesday.

Hours after speaking to the media on Tuesday, Australian authorities confined the four Rugby Championship teams to their hotel with restricted movement and mask-wearing, following an outbreak of new Covid-19 cases in the Gold Coast.

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The other challenge Nienaber and Co have had, compared to other tours, is the fact the Bok squad is so big. Because of Covid and the difficulties of getting new players into the squad should injuries occur meant the Boks toured with over 40 players, and many haven’t featured at all in the four matches.

“The players who haven’t played have been awesome,” said Nienaber.

“On a normal tour you’d have to manage five or six guys who wouldn’t feature; now it’s virtually a full team. So there’s been a lot of learning, and it’s been different.

“That said, there is no excuse for the results and how we have performed.”

The Boks’ final Rugby Championship match kicks off at 9.05am Saturday (SA time).