VIDEO: Nienaber's midfield bolter has been 'on the radar' for some time
Jacques Nienaber was happy to continue the experimental nature of his selections for the final World Cup warm-up match, against New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday.
Nienaber made eight changes – and one positional switch – to his starting line-up for the trip to the iconic London venue.
He retained five of the pack that defeated Wales (52-16) last Saturday – the front row of Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx and Frans Malherbe, as well as loose forwards Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit, have retained their places.
Flyhalf Manie Libbok and Canan Moodie also start again – although the latter switches from wing to outside centre.
The big bolter is Moodie moving to outside centre, a position he hasn’t played often at senior level.
It is his first Test start in midfield, having scored two of the world champions’ eight tries in a 52-16 warm-up rout of Wales in Cardiff last Saturday – taking the talented 20-year-old’s tally to four tries from seven Tests.
He will partner with veteran Andre Esterhuizen in the centres.
Nienaber conceded that his backline selection does have an ‘experimental’ undertone to it.
However, among the forwards, there is good continuity.
“Yes, in the backline just under 50 percent played last week,” he said.
“There are new combinations and we have four No.9s, so we have a new combination in Cobus [Reinach, on the bench and Faf [de Klerk, starting].
“Then there is the centre combination [Canan Moodie and Andre Esterhuizen], as well as the [changes among] the outside backs.
“It all the game we have won, the outside backs – Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin and Canan Moodie – produced Man of the Match performances.
“We have quality outside backs, so we are just spreading the load for them.”
Nienaber admitted that the selection of Moodie at No.13 would be an interesting selection if you look from the outside.
(WATCH as Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber unpacks the reasons behind his left-field selection for the World Cup warm-up encounter with the All Blacks.…)
“For us [the Bok selectors] Canan has always been in the back of our minds as a back-up there [at outside centre,” he said in a virtual media briefing from the team’s training base in London.
Moodie played centre at school, for Boland Agricultural High, and the coach is confident he can make the step up as an international midfielder.
While the Boks do have other options at No.13, Moodie is now the backup behind first-choice Jesse Kriel.
With Lukhanyo Am another two weeks away from a return to training, Nienaber is looking at his options.
“We can move Damian de Allende out, which we have done before.
“We have played Canan [Moodie] there in training, so he has operated there.
“We are comfortable with the fact that we can play Canan there.
“It will be a nice challenge for him, playing against quality opposition.”
Nienaber said Andre Esterhuizen has justified his place in the World Cup squad with his performances this year and comes in ahead of Damian de Allende as part of a rotation.
“If you look at the number of games Doogz [Damian de Allende] had, we needed to rotate,” the coach said, adding: “Doogz has played 80 minutes for a couple of games.”
The Springboks were caught cold when they last played the All Blacks – in a Rugby Championship encounter in Auckland in July – New Zealand racing into an early 17-0 lead, before winning 35-20 in Auckland.
A capacity crowd of some 80,000 is expected at Twickenham, where the teams have met once before – with the All Blacks edging a 2015 World Cup semifinal 20-18 en route to lifting the Webb Ellis Cup.
“The rivalry between the Springboks and All Blacks is one of the most intense in the world,” Nienaber said.
“It’s a great way for us to wrap up our warm-up matches before heading to France for the World Cup.
“This match may be on neutral ground, but we expect it to be as epic as every other Test between the teams.
“They are a quality team with several playmakers and physical forwards, and they’ll give everything on Friday.”
South Africa and New Zealand, the only teams to win the men’s Rugby World Cup three times, are in the same half of the draw for this year’s edition, which starts next month.
The All Blacks are due to name their team on Wednesday.
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#TeamAnnouncement: Bok coach Jacques Nienaber made eight personnel changes – and one positional switch – to his starting line-up for the clash against the All Blacks 👇#RWC2023 #SouthAfrica #Springboks #NewZealand #AllBlacks https://t.co/jnZrkxnJYt
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) August 21, 2023
