Springboks head coach Jaques Nienaber confirmed that they intend to have a more physical approach against Ireland for Saturday’s third Rugby World Cup pool encounter against Ireland at 21:00.
Nienaber made 13 personnel changes and a positional switch as well naming a seven-one split in favour of the forwards on the replacements’ bench for Saturday’s third Rugby World Cup pool encounter against Ireland.
"Like any team selection, we went with that because we believe that’s the best way for us to make sure we get a result on the weekend. We always try to be as physical and intense as possible. We always say you can’t plan for a good start, but you can always plan for an intense start. We will definitely try to be as intense as possible from the start, as I think they would as well." Nienaber said.
"It worked well in that specific game (All Blacks). The bench had a big impact, not only in that game but also on the weekend [against Romania]."
"We analysed Ireland and after looking at them and what they bring and what we think we will need in this specific game from a tactical point of view and trying to counter everything they do, that’s the reason we went with seven-one.
"I don’t think necessarily Ireland and New Zealand are similar in how they do things. It’s for this specific game.
"The ‘bomb squad’ that came on against Scotland also had a big impact. That’s what we want.
"I don’t call them finishers or stuff like that. The guys that start and guys who come off the bench have a role to fulfil. That’s why when we talk about our front-rowers, we don’t talk about first choice or second choice. It doesn’t necessarily work like that in our team.
"The guys who start have a specific role to perform and the moment we see that being achieved, we bring the other guys off the bench."
Nienaber admitted that the bench split is a calculated risk. "Obviously people look at it and say it’s a risk, but for us it’s a calculated risk. There are guys on that bench who cover various positions, but that is not something I’d like to go into too much because it is probably more tactical.
"I don’t want to talk too much about tactics. We have a lot of versatility in the squad and we showed that on the weekend by playing four nines (scrum-halves). But we are comfortable with the risk we are taking."