VIDEO: Nienaber defends split-squad strategy after being outplayed
REACTION: Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber says the split-squad strategy should not be blamed for his team’s defeat to the All Blacks in Round Two of the Rugby Championship in Auckland.
The Springboks sent a group of experienced players to New Zealand ahead of their Round One meeting with Australia to prepare for Saturday’s clash at Mount Smart Stadium.
A few of those players seemed to be undercooked with the All Blacks racing to a 20-3 half-time lead, before eventually winning the match 35-20.
The rest of the squad arrived earlier this week leaving the coaches with only a few days to integrate both groups before the match.
The story continues below…
“The guys who came back from South Africa only arrived on Tuesday and we felt that having a couple of guys here who are adapted to the time zone would give us a better chance.
“There are pros and cons. The pro was that they get over the jet lag and they are fresh.
“The con is that they haven’t had exposure to international rugby, which the other guys had.
“That is the strategy we went with. The [poor] performance wasn’t because of that – we just made too many errors in the first 20 minutes.”
Nienaber added: “In 2019 a similar thing happened and we had guys that were not exposed to Australia at Ellis Park and we were also chasing the game [against New Zealand]. We scored in the last minute of the game to secure a draw.
“The guys who came on were battle-hardened and that’s why we decided not to go the way we did in 2019 and go with the full 15 fresh guys staying here – we wanted to mix it up a little bit.”
Nienaber said the split-squad strategy over the first two rounds of the Rugby Championship provided him with some “answers”.
“We decide to go with the strategy and the majority of the guys got an opportunity to play,” said the coach.
“We got one more game in the Rugby Championship and then three warm-up games.
“Our plan was always to win the Rugby Championship but also to assess [players] as well.
“We got four more games to make sure that we get our house in order before we go to the World Cup. We got good answers in both games.”
@rugby365com
