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South Africa used to be regarded as an ultra-defensive team. But at the Rugby World Cup 2023, the Springboks have broken new ground by playing forward. Former coach Jacques Nienaber reveals what has changed.
Five months on, the defeat to South Africa still sticks in the French craw. They lost by a single point (28-29) in the quarter-finals, only to see the Springboks lift the title a few days later. While observers, coach Fabien Galthié and several players have deplored referee Ben O'Keeffe's errors, the recipes for South Africa's success must be found elsewhere. That's according to Jacques Nienaber, South Africa's World Cup coach.
In an interview with the Irish Mirror, the South African coach, now coach of Irish club Leinster, details the crucial role played by Felix Jones. The latter, who coached South Africa's attack with Jacques Nienaber, enabled the Springboks, reputedly defensive, to surprise their opponents with a forward-looking game."I'd say Felix has probably taken over the reins of our attack in 2022.In any case, that's when we realized how creative he was in the things he wanted to implement in attack."
"The general public may not have realized it, but our game was very creative at the end of 2023. If you think back to the World Cup quarter-final, South Africa deciding to play a penalty quickly by hand, that's still something very unexpected. For our last try, the one by Eben Etzebeth that enabled us to win the quarter-final against France, he brought a lot of innovation.
