No ten-tation for Bok coach Nienaber against England

The cameo Manie Libbok delivered off the bench against Italy did little to shift the prevailing mindset in the Springbok camp.

Libbok’s form may be red-hot, but he will be on the bench again when the Springboks tackle England at Twickenham on Saturday as the selectors opted to fuel an existing fire.

Though the initial selection was perhaps foisted upon them, the investment the Boks have made in Damian Willemse at flyhalf does not warrant them slowing down that project now.

Bok coach Jacques Nienaber acknowledged the strides Libbok has taken since he joined the squad.

“Manie is going from strength to strength. He’s been with us for only eight weeks, and you can see how he takes more ownership; the rugby stuff, on and off the field,” explained the coach.

“We are excited to see what he can do at Twickenham. The games are getting bigger, and there is more pressure. I’m not sure about ticket sales at Twickenham, but it will be similar to what we had in Marseille.”

He explained why building Willemse’s capacity at No 10 takes precedence.

“Damian is doing well at 10, and he is driving our game forward. He’s had about five games this year settling in at 10. He’s getting lekker experience. We know he can do it for us at 12 and 15,” the coach said about the player who was thrust into that position in the absence of Handré Pollard and Elton Jantjies.

That he opted to stick to Willemse is not surprising. Springbok flyhalves have had an interesting relationship with Twickenham postisolation. To Nienaber’s credit he is sticking to his guns, but Springbok coaches often arrive there scratching their head about who should be their pivot.

The imposing concrete monstrosity and crowd with rose-tinted glasses can challenge even strongly held convictions. Generally speaking the Boks tend to yield to a more conservative approach.

For their long end-of-year tour in 2000 Percy Montgomery was chosen at fullback with then coach Harry Viljoen’s promise of exciting times ahead. Montgomery performed admirably against Argentina, Ireland and Wales, but Viljoen got cold feet as Twickenham loomed large.

Montgomery and his softer skills were moved to fullback as the more confrontational Braam van Straaten was introduced at 10. The Boks duly lost their only Test on tour.

Coach Peter de Villiers also took a more experimental approach into his maiden year-end tour by installing Ruan Pienaar at flyhalf. In Pienaar’s previous 24 Tests he had been predominantly used off the bench with his only starts at scrumhalf (in four) and fullback (in two).

The tourists won their first two Tests on that tour, against Wales and Scotland, before Pienaar delivered one of the most accomplished performances by a Bok flyhalf in a 42-6 romp.

In 2006 Butch James did duty in the first of two Tests away to England. The tourists lost by two points, and under-siege coach Jake White was bizarrely recalled to report to SA Rugby’s president’s council before returning to London for the second Test against England. Andre Pretorius was introduced for the second Test as the Boks won 25-14.

That must have felt like redemption for Pretorius, who was in the team four years earlier when the Boks embraced infamy with their 53-3 defeat. James, who had played in that position a week earlier in an embarrassing loss to Scotland, was moved to inside centre for the first time for the Boks in the Twickenham Test.

In the build-up to the World Cup semifinal against the Wallabies at Twickenham in 1999, Nick Mallett agonised about who should be his 10. Henry Honiball was his go-to flyhalf but could not shake off injury. Jannie de Beer had delivered a virtuoso kicking performance in the quarterfinal against England in Paris.

In a way the decision was made for Mallett. De Beer started and again delivered with the boot. Honiball came off the bench only to watch Stephen Larkham and Matthew Burke crush Bok hopes of a repeat World Cup final.

Nienaber has a repeat World Cup final on his agenda, and his choice of 10 at Twickenham may dictate his mood going into a World Cup year.