Africa-Press – South-Africa. Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber is not letting the frustrations of South Africans back home disrupt preparations for Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against the Wallabies in Sydney.
The Springboks have lost their last two matches in the tournament – against the All Blacks in Johannesburg and the Wallabies in Adelaide last weekend – and Nienaber’s overall return has slipped to 11 wins from 19 Tests for a 58% win ratio since he took over as head coach.
Expectations are always high from Springbok supporters, but the heat from back home has undoubtedly risen in temperature this week.
On Tuesday, shortly after naming his side for this weekend, Nienaber was asked if he was starting to feel the pressure during his press conference in Sydney.
“I think the pressure, for myself and the team, is the pressure we put on ourselves,” said the coach.
“I think we all feel pressure because you want to produce for your country, and you’re representing your country. The pressure is trying to get solutions for the next game. It’s not the outside pressure; it’s internal pressure.
“No coach can control the outside pressure. That will come, and it comes with the territory. If you start focusing on it, then you’re focusing on the wrong things. We focus on the things we want to get right, and that is the pressure.
“The external pressure will always be there, and this week it will be on us. It’s on all coaches. If you lose two games, there is going to be external pressure on you.”
The shining light for the Boks is that, despite recent results, they are very much in the tournament and victory on Saturday will throw them right back into the title mix.
“It’s a must-win for all the teams currently,” said Nienaber.
“We’re half way through, and I think it’s very tight currently. Everybody is close to one another, and whichever team wins is probably going to have to win their last three games. We’re all in the same boat.
“We’re obviously disappointed with the two losses we had, but the only thing we can focus on is trying to get a result in the next Test match.
“We’re working as hard as possible, putting in the effort to see if we can’t change it around on the weekend.”
Nienaber, meanwhile, has made eight changes to his starting line-up.
Kick-off is at 11:35 (SA time) on Saturday.
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