Ken Borland

Jacques Nienaber is about to go into his first assignment as head coach of the Springboks and he believes his initial career as a physiotherapist is going to be advantageous as he negotiates the slings and arrows of misfortune that inevitably go with the most high-pressured job in South African rugby.

Nienaber studied physiotherapy at the University of the Free State, where he first hooked up with Rassie Erasmus. He had moved into the strength and conditioning role with the Free State Cheetahs by the time Erasmus went from player to coach in 2005, and he then became one of the most successful defence coaches in the country when he moved with the now director of rugby to Cape Town in 2008.

“I didn’t even play for my school 1^st team, in fact I played for the 7ths at Grey College, but I love the game. My pathway to here was through being a physio. That involves what we call ‘clinical reasoning’, where you trial some treatment, then you assess and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work, you don’t sulk, you just get on to the next thing. My attitude is that you at least then know what doesn’t work.

“That attitude will help as Springbok coach because there are certain things you cannot change. You can’t control destiny, things like injuries and cards are going to happen, but we’ll give it a helluva go. We know discipline will be massive in the Lions series and we’ll be concentrating on accuracy in the fundamentals – tackles and breakdowns, make sure we execute those legally,” Nienaber said on Wednesday.

While Erasmus and Nienaber won the World Cup as much through their cerebral approach as the tremendous physicality the Springboks brought on the field, the probable loss of Duane Vermeulen and the possible absence of RG Snyman and Damian de Allende will be big blows to their efforts to overpower the British and Irish Lions.

Staying true to his ‘no sulking’ philosophy, Neinaber tried to be optimistic though on Thursday.

“The most important thing is that Damian and RG’s families are fine too after the well-documented fire pit incident. And Jesse Kriel cheered me up about Duane today when he sat in front of me on the plane and told me he had a similar injury just before the 2019 World Cup and he made a quick recovery. So when I phoned Duane I reminded him about Jesse and he said he remembered he got back in time for the World Cup.

“Accidents and injuries happen, but we can’t control them and both those incidents could have been worse. Of course they’re not ideal and I would love the full squad to be training together. It’s just the Japan-based players training at the moment, six of them, but whatever we’re doing must be meaningful, and we’re doing a lot of skill-based work,” Nienaber said.

The continued misfortune of Rilee Rossouw has turned out to be the joy of Theunis de Bruyn, with the Knights captain called up to the South African Test squad for the first time on Wednesday, ahead of the three-Test series against Sri Lanka which starts on Boxing Day.

Rossouw, who toured Australia without playing in any of the Tests, has been ruled out of action by another foot injury and his place in the squad has been taken by uncapped Knights team-mate De Bruyn.

The tall 24-year-old has been considered an obvious future international for the last three seasons, boasting an impressive first-class average of 48.73 with six centuries in 32 matches including a double for  SA A against the England Lions. Convenor of selectors Linda Zondi told The Citizen that De Bruyn is considered a future star of all three formats.

“Theunis a good talent and has done well for both his franchise and SA A. Obviously we aren’t pleased with Rilee’s injury because he’s the next batsman in line, and Stiaan van Zyl would probably also have been in line had he not signed a Kolpak deal, but Theunis is next in the pecking order. It’s good to get him into the set-up because we definitely see him as a future star for the Proteas, playing in all the formats,” Zondi said.

“It’s obviously very disappointing for Rilee, I spoke to him in Australia and he really wants to do well for South Africa and was very happy with the way we backed him in the ODIs. He’s obviously an exceptional player and he will still do well in the future for South Africa and contribute immensely going forward because it’s still a long season ahead and he’s definitely still in our plans.”

Because the Proteas are now back on home soil, the squad has been reduced to 13 players, with Wayne Parnell the fast bowler called in to replace the injured Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn. Wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius and reserve wicketkeeper Dane Vilas are no longer part of the squad.

The likelihood of De Bruyn making his debut will depend on whether captain Faf du Plessis escapes a ban from his appeal for ball-tampering on Monday, but just being in camp with the Test team will be of immense benefit to the development of the elegant right-hander.

“Even if he doesn’t make the starting XI, he’s going to gain more experience and fitting into those surroundings and the culture of the team will only enhance his belief that he will be able to fit in at international level,” Zondi said.

http://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-kzn/20161215/282209420496484