Jacques Nienaber hailed the depth that the Springboks have been able to create as they settle on their combinations for their World Cup title defence. DYLAN JACK reports.
Nienaber made 11 changes to the starting team that defeated Argentina 24-13 in Buenos Aires two weekends ago, for the penultimate World Cup warm-up match against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
TEAM: Kolisi back to captain Boks
The big inclusions see the return of captain Siya Kolisi and loosehead prop Ox Nche from knee and pectoral muscle injuries respectively, while young scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse will make his first start of the year.
The lineup has a look of finality to it, as Nienaber looks to halt the chopping-and-changing that coloured the Rugby Championship campaign and settle on the combinations that will face Scotland in the World Cup opener.
Underestimate the Dragons at your own peril!🐉@mark_keohane and Zels discuss the respect earned by the never-say-die Welsh side 🏴 pic.twitter.com/95CpB47m7R
— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) August 16, 2023
During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Nienaber was asked about the strength of the current Springboks team and how it measured up to the one that claimed the Webb Ellis Cup four years ago.
“I definitely think we have more depth than we had in 2019,” the Bok coach said. “We only started in 2018, so you try to build as much depth as you can, you want to give players exposure to the environment.
“We didn’t have the luxury that we have had over these last couple of years where we could rotate the squad, which we have done frequently.
“We made 11 changes to this team. Going forward, I don’t think you will see 11 or 12 changes again. There will be changes, but maybe just four or five. It won’t be like the Bloemfontein game against Wales, when they beat us when we made 18 or 19 changes from the one week to the other.
“We wanted to create as much squad depth as possible. We felt that we had that luxury. Sometimes you take that risk and performances can suffer, because you are changing combinations all the time. You put the squad under pressure, but we felt that it was good pressure.
“In terms of that, we have better squad depth than we had in 2019.”
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