Nienaber explains why Lood de Jager has missed out again
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber insists former Sale Sharks lock Lood de Jager remains a key member of the squad despite missing Saturday's Test against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
De Jager, whose career has been hampered by repeated shoulder issues, was far from his best against New Zealand in Auckland on 15 July and was due to return against the Pumas. However, he misses out and Nienaber has been quick to reveal it is illness not poor form that has sidelined the line-out specialist who is short of match practice.
Marvin Orie starts alongside Jean Kleyn at lock against the Pumas in the final game before the World Cup squad is named on August 8 which means de Jager will be relying on past form and the fact he helped win the trophy in 2019 to ensure he is on the plane to France.
Nienaber said: "Lood was supposed to start, but he's a little bit chesty. The doctor said it wasn't going to be worth it and Marvin came with us in the event something like this happened.
"It would have been nice to give Lood a run because he last played against New Zealand and it would've been nice to give him a run. There's no injury, so he's just sick, so we feel it's a little bit of a risk and that's why Marvin is starting."
The head coach is also still working out his back row options and for this match he has opted for Deon Fourie at openside flank and Franco Mostert at blindside flank. He explained: "What Deon gave us when he came off the bench in the Australia game was intensity and the stuff that he brought to the Stormers.
"If Deon also brings what he brought at the end-of-year tour, we'll also be happy, which is why we select him so that we can see the Deon Fourie we see week in and week out.
"We know Franco only played one game against New Zealand ... we know our forwards didn't do us any favours in the first 20 minutes.
"There are numerous reasons behind that start, but when Franco stepped in at number seven, he showed he could operate there. He's been good for us there."
Latest Comments
Brumbies are looking good and if they keep their home form up a final is not beyond the realms of possibility. They showed against the Hurricanes exactly how clinical they can be as they absorbed pressure in that contest while also scoring points and applying their own pressure. Reds are well placed as well but need to find consistency. They are building a longer term project with a young side and plenty of quality players. Been surprising to see the strength of Aussie sides this year after the debacle of the world cup. Have NZ sides gotten weaker? Have Aussie sides gotten stronger? A bit of both I would say. Whatever the case its good to see some actual competition between NZ and Aus sides again and thats exactly what the fans wanted and is probably driving better viewership numbers. All of this can only be healthy for Aus and Super Rugby and I hope the Brumbies go all the way.
Go to commentsDead time reductions are important as is ball in play time increases. Premiership leads the way in terms of ball in play and Northern refereeing standards around the breakdown has sped up the game significantly. Super Rugby is trying new things but its not leading the way in terms of making gains in reducing dead time and ball in play time. Northern administrators are also not against speeding up the game, on the contrary they want a faster game and have been trying things and are embracing increasing the speed of rugby. Super Rugby isnt providing a blueprint for anything, its just part the agreed upon blueprint that administrators across the world are moving to.
Go to comments