Jacques Nienaber wants Boks to build on their strengths

Mbombela — SA coach Jacques Nienaber was pleased with his side’s improved accuracy but says they are “not the finished article” after their biggest victory over New Zealand in 94 years on Saturday.

The Springboks were dominant in all facets of play as they cruised to a 26-10 win in their Rugby Championship opener at the Mbombela Stadium, grinding the struggling All Blacks into submission with their stifling defence and excellence at the breakdown.

It was a vast improvement on the stuttering performances against Wales last month. They won that series 2-1 but failed to impress overall, something Nienaber acknowledged.

“I don’t think we’re a finished product yet. We did a good assessment after the Wales series and built on the stuff that we felt needed to be improved,” he told reporters.

“We’ve always wanted to win every game, but for us it’s also about improving on the goals that we’ve set out for ourselves.”

One of the major disappointments against Wales was the unforced errors and general inaccuracy, which meant they were unable to build sustained pressure on the tourists for large parts of the series.

Nienaber believes that aspect was better against New Zealand.

“We spoke about pitching up with intensity during the week and trying to be accurate with what we’ve planned,” he said. “I thought we did that well. We had good intensity and I thought we executed our plans very well.”

Nienaber will be pleased to have got a comprehensive victory against a side expected to be a challenger to SA’s World Cup crown in France next year, though the ailing All Blacks have now lost five of their past six Tests in a horror run of form.

At the same time Springbok captain Siya Kolisi was full of praise for the supporters who packed Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.

“I just don’t know how SA people do it,” said Kolisi. “The way they turn up with everything that’s going on in our country. People who can afford it come along and fill up the stadium for us and it means the world to us as a team.

“Running out and hearing people screaming like that it drives us as a team. That’s what Jacques [Nienaber] always reminds us. If I make a mistake in the game, you keep going because it’s about the people who are coming each time to watch us play.

“I hope we made them proud today, because they definitely got us going from the anthem onwards.”

The teams will meet again in a second Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday. 

Reuters