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No easy games on Bok tour, says Nienaber
"Scotland are a quality side and they are going to be very tough to break down."
Head coach Jacques Nienaber looks on ahead of South Africa’s match against Wales last week. Picture: Steve Haag/Gallo Images
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber is expecting another big grind when the Boks front up against Scotland in their second end-of-year UK tour match at Murrayfield on Saturday afternoon.
After a thrilling contest against Wales last week, when it took until the 73rd minute for the Boks to take the lead and then hold onto it over the last few minutes, Nienaber doesn’t expect the games to get any easier going forward.
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“If you look at Wales they are the Six Nations champions. They lost one match right at the death against France, so they almost had a Grand Slam, so it’s a quality team with lots of experience and away from home you will have to grind out a win,” explained Nienaber.
“And it’s going to be the same this weekend against Scotland. If you look at the last seven games that they played in the Six Nations and the two games in the autumn series, they lost two games in the Six Nations, against Ireland in Dublin by three points and against Wales by a point.
“Then they have just beaten Australia at home, so it is a really quality side and they are going to be very tough to break down.”
How the game goes also depends a lot on the weather conditions, with a traditionally wet autumn in the Northern Hemisphere giving their sides a boost, with the hosts being used to these conditions, which plays straight into their game plans, while the Boks will hope to play in dryer conditions.
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“It’s not like the Southern Hemisphere teams just come over to the Northern Hemisphere and play against the top teams and its going to be easy,” admitted Nienaber.
“It would be nice if it’s going to be a 15 pointer and soft landing for you and you can finish the game, but if it’s in conditions like we played in on Saturday where it’s raining from start to finish it’s going to be a grind.
“It just speaks well to the quality of the teams if you play them with all of their international players available, so there are no easy games.”
Following the match against Scotland, the Boks will round out their UK tour with a clash against England at Twickenham next weekend.
