South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber. Photo / Photosport
South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber. Photo / Photosport
Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber refused to speculate on his opposite number Ian Foster's position with the All Blacks but says the reality of being a top coach is "you are two poor games away from being fired".
That may very well be the case for Foster, who has been given the arduous task of trying to turn his team around in South Africa after overseeing four losses in his last five tests.
New Zealand Rugby boss Mark Robinson said last week Foster was the man to lead the All Blacks in South Africa, but stopped short of backing the under fire coach beyond the two upcoming tests.
Nienaber didn't want to speculate on the current All Blacks situation, but said there is always pressure on players and coaches in big rugby nations like South Africa and New Zealand.
"If I comment on what is happening in their camp and how he [Foster] feels, then that will be speculation," Nienaber said at a media conference ahead of the first test in Mbombela on Sunday (3.05am NZT).
"If you are a coach or a player you are two poor games from being dropped, and you are two poor games away from being fired. That is the reality and one lives with that."
South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber. Photo / Photosport
Nienaber also sidestepped questions about what might be going on in All Blacks camp in the build-up to the test, saying his side remains focussed on their own game.
"We've got no control, and we can't expand energy on thinking about how they are feeling, how desperate they'd be and what would they change," Nienaber said.
"We've got no control over that, so the moment you think about those things, you're wasting that energy.
"We can only control what we can control. We must make sure that they're not more desperate than us on the day.
"That we can control, but we can't control how they tackle the game, what they want to do with our maul, and our style of play.
"We need to stay in that reality. They'll be desperate, and they'll always be desperate. When two great rugby sides meet, there's always desperation."
Nienaber also praised Ireland, who leapfrogged the Springboks to world No 2 with their series victory in New Zealand, for their game plan to beat the All Blacks, but said his side are a different proposition.
"Ireland are a quality side, and they pitch up with intensity. Their execution was quite good in the plan they had," he said.
"We are not Ireland, we are not Leinster, and we don't play like them. But the main thing that we took out of that is whatever plan you decided on for the All Blacks, you will have to bring intensity, and you will have to bring accuracy."
Nienaber said Ireland were so successful against the All Blacks because they had balance in attack, from a strong maul to other aspects of the game.
"You must have balance and Ireland had balance. They scored with maul tries, but they also had other means of attacking.
"The lineout maul will always be a big part of the game and it's an exciting part of the game because there are a lot of technical and tactical decisions you have to make as a defensive side in terms of how you are going to control that.
"That might open up space somewhere else which you can attack if you want to."
Nienaber announced the team to face the All Blacks this week, including three changes to the one that beat Wales to clinch a 2-1 series victory in Cape Town.
Faf de Klerk was recalled to start at No 9, while Malcolm Marx was preferred over Bongi Mbonambi at hooker and Kurt-Lee Arendse earns his second test cap on the wing in place of the injured Cheslin Kolbe.
South Africa: Damian Willemse, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk, Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (c), Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Trevor Nyakane.
Reserves: Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Salmaan Moerat, Franco Mostert, Kwagga Smith, Jaden Hendrikse, Willie le Roux.
