Jacques Nienaber expects Springboks’ semi to come down to ‘small margins’
With the quarter-finals having come and gone at the Rugby World Cup, the focus has already begun to shift to next week. Following on from South Africa’s thrilling win over France, head coach Jacques Nienaber was asked about their semi-final opponents England.
England were written off by many coming into this World Cup, but Steve Borthwick’s men have overcome each and every obstacle so far on the sport’s biggest stage.
Led by fly-half George Ford, a 14-man England outfit blitzed Argentina in Marseille to open their campaign. England went on to finish pool play with four wins from as many games which saw them book a spot in the knockouts against Fiji.
It was close, tense and everything that quarter-final rugby should be. The Test was all square with 10 minutes to play but England pulled away to win 30-24 in Marseille.
Nienaber was following the England game ahead of the Springboks’ own date with destiny against tournament hosts Frace in Paris. The England game, just like their own and the All Blacks’ win last night, came down to “small margins.”
"Massive. I think it’s going to be a nice challenge,” Nienaber said when asked about England.
“In knockouts anything can happen, like tonight I followed the England game when we were on the bus here. Also they (England) had a healthy lead and then Fiji came back and then they also pushed it right to the end.
“I think knockouts are going to be small margins right to the end."
Playing in an all-time classic Rugby World Cup quarter-final on Sunday evening, the Springboks came from behind to knock the tournament hosts earlier than many expected.
Lock Eben Etzebeth scored a crucial try with just over 10 minutes to play which saw the Boks take the lead, and the defending World Cup winners showed their class to hold on in the dying stages.
South Africa burst into a frenzy as referee Ben O’Keeffe blew his whistle for full-time as the Springboks emerged victorious by the barest of margins, winning 29-28.
"Credit to the French first of all. We knew it was going to be this tight. I think everybody knew it was going to be a big battle,” Nienaber mentioned. “Two good teams and unfortunately, or fortunately for us, we were on the right side of things.
"There was one point that separated it. I think the margins were marginal but no, credit to our players, they stuck in it to the end."
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> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
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