Boks are NOT boring; copycats are boring
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber dismissed the criticism of his team’s playing style – which has become a refrain since South Africa’s intense two-one series win over the British and Irish Lions.
Not only are the sore losers from the Northern Hemisphere blaming the Boks for the dour nature of the three-Test matches, but the usual uninformed, bitter and hateful New Zealand critics have also jumped on the bandwagon.
In fact, some ‘scribes’ even suggested the All Blacks are on a mission to ‘save’ rugby from the Springboks’ intimidating and rugged approach.
However, Nienaber told a virtual media briefing on Tuesday – ahead of the opening round of the Rugby Championship – that the tight nature of the series against the B&I Lions added to the allure of the game.
“It was tight,” the Boks coach said, adding: “I am very grateful for the series victory because it is such a special thing that only comes once every 12 years.
“But it was unbelievably tight and could have gone both ways.
“Credit to both teams, I thought it was a grind.
“That’s what you want from the second-biggest, after a World Cup, series you will play.
“It was a humdinger. In my opinion, rugby was the victor there, it was that close. Three points separated us at the end.”
He said the vastly differing playing styles of the teams around the world adds to the allure of the game and should not be seen as a negative.
Nienaber explained why the Springboks play the power game they do, because it suits the type of players they have at their disposal.
(Article continues below the video in which Nienaber unpacks the reasons for the different playing styles…)
“That’s the beauty of rugby. There are different styles,” Nienaber said.
“It would be unbelievably boring if everybody played the same.
“Different styles means different tactics.
“If you take that [2019] World Cup, we played the most attacking-branded team in the quarterfinal [Japan] and then we had to change our whole mentality for a team that played a massive kicking game [Wales in the semifinal]. You had to try and outsmart them and outmanoeuvre them. Then you had England [in the Final], who had a very balanced approach.
“I don’t think there is one specific style,” he said about the clamour for everybody to follow the All Black’s all-action attacking game.
“Your playing style is determined by the athletic attributes of the players.
“New Zealand, for example, has specific athletic attributes in their players and they will create a game plan to amplify those special characteristics.
“We will have a different style, because we will look to amplify our athletic abilities.
“Japan will have different athletic abilities.
“So, why playing styles differ is because athletes differ.
“The athletes that make up the Japan side and the athletes that make up our side, Australia, New Zealand or Argentina, are all different.
“That is why you get different playing styles.”
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