South Africa managed to reach the final after a more dangerous journey than ever. Jacques Nienaber above all won his challenge of constantly adapting to his adversaries, by deciding to deprive himself of the strategy of a typical group, like France for example.
He did it. Jacques Nienaber brought back a bench of seven forwards and a three-quarter to challenge New Zealand in the World Cup final. The announcement of the South African composition left observers of the oval ball stunned, stunned by the discovery of this gargantuan bench. But beyond the nature of this daring “7-1”, the Springboks coach chose to revive Trevor Nyakane, Jean Kleyn and Jasper Wiese, all absent in the final phase, and to send Manie Libbok and Cobus Reinach to the stands. .
The message is clear: among the reigning champions, there is no standard, or “premium”, group, like several nations, such as Ireland, France or New Zealand. “The team is not just the 15 starters, it’s the 23 players. That’s our credo. When we select the team, there are lots of things that come into play, whether it’s the medical aspects or the performances achieved. And then we analyzed a lot about New Zealand and the sectors in which we can gain the upper hand. Then the coaches start to discuss, we go from a 5-3 to a 6-2, to a 7-1, then we backtrack. It’s not a matter of 10 minutes, it takes hours.” explains Jacques Nienaber.
Nyakane, Wiese et Kleyn and symbols
Above all, the Boks boss does not hesitate to take a big swing when his team is in danger. During the semi-final against England, Manie Libbok gave up his place after half an hour of play, while Cobus Reinach left his partners a few seconds after half-time. To avoid a potential catastrophe, the South African staff did not hesitate to stop the bleeding, without worrying about the hierarchy. A strategy that is the opposite of the extremism advocated by certain coaches, including Fabien Galthié who chose to leave Antoine Dupont on the field for eighty minutes, during the quarter-final against the Springboks.
A choice which could have paid off if the French genius had used yet another magic trick at the end of the match, but it was not the case. Behind the starting XV, Nienaber and Erasmus adjusted their bench as the tournament progressed. Marco Van Staden, Jean Kleyn and Trevor Nyakane went through the end of the group stage and the final matches without a single minute while two of them will be on the bench to challenge the Blacks. Another notable choice is the case of Jasper Wiese. Indisputable holder of the number 8 position at the start of the campaign, the Leicester Tiger was dismissed by the staff in the final phase and returned to the bench in the final. “The players take it like that. Individualities and egos are put aside. That doesn’t mean there aren’t egos, but we shouldn’t think like that. We have to think about South Africa and the Springboks” concludes Jacques Nienaber.
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