While Nienaber jumps minefield, siege mentality may drive Boks against England

Whether good or bad, the Springboks’ siege mentality is back.

The team is in the throes of one final push this year ahead of Saturday’s clash at Twickenham against old foes England.

A build-up week to a Twickenham Test is mostly one in which the visiting team has to tiptoe through a minefield. The English media tempt, tease, twist and at times terrorise as part of the pre-match ritual, and on his first visit to the London hot seat Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was predictably invited to venture into areas undesirable.

How does director of rugby Rassie Erasmus’s ban sit with him and what about the team’s perceived bland game plan?

“We can’t control narratives. We can’t control other people’s opinions,” Nienaber insisted after being asked whether an unwanted label has now been attached to the Boks, especially in the wake of Erasmus’s latest brush with rugby’s law.

Erasmus’s tweets after the defeats to Ireland and France were interpreted by many as sour grapes.

Of course, no coach wants his team to be labelled as a bunch of whingers, but Nienaber was careful not to overstep the mark himself as he laid out a somewhat cryptic defence.

He kept insisting “we know what the reality is, not all the facts are out there”, in relation to the second World Rugby ban he has copped for online criticism of referees. “Not all the facts are out there and people create perceptions. We are aware of the facts and we have made the team aware of them as well,” said Nienaber.

He also explained how Erasmus’s ban affects them operationally. “During the week he can be with us as normal. The roles and responsibilities on match day we just absorb.”

Nienaber displayed the body language of someone who desperately wanted to share what is really on his mind. He bit his tongue knowing the bullet is wholly unpalatable.

The Boks have long been accused of being unadventurous plodders who get results by wreaking havoc through their physicality in the set pieces and an obdurate, heavy-handed defence. In Marseille they showed glimpses of a desire to shift gears in attack, and in the country of racy sports cars they got licence to do so in Genoa.

Perception, however, is hard to change.

“Again, not all the facts are out there and people form opinions,” said Nienaber. “Even about style of play. If you think about who scored our tries in the World Cup final [Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe]. Kurt-Lee Arendse [another wing] has played six Tests and he’s got six tries.

“We can’t control the narrative that gets put out there that we are boring, we just kick, we just tackle. You can’t change that because that is the narrative people want to drive.

“As long as you are truthful about what happens on and off the field and you share it with the players, that is all we can do.

“If we are going to get respect, ever, I don't know,” the coach sighed.

Nienaber said it was disappointing. Then he wanted to correct himself as he sat back in his chair. He then settled for disappointing.

If he feels the Boks are being disrespected and that they are not getting a fair shake, he probably has a just cause. He will not be the first Springbok coach to feel so.

Adopting a laager mentality, however, comes with risk, but it is from a position of insular fortification that the Springboks have delivered some of their most stirring counter punches. Even at a time they feel the world is against them, the Springboks must remember, they are the world champions.