Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has abandoned the “bomb squad” for the 100th Test against the All Blacks in Townsville on Saturday in a search for more guile and less brawn.

This match, which features as part of the Rugby Championship, is also a clash between the top two-ranked teams in the world and the most anticipated meeting since the Boks won Rugby World Cup 2019.

After missing out on playing throughout 2020 due to the pandemic, the Boks finally have a chance to test their world-champion credentials against their fiercest rivals. And the challenge is immense after South Africa suffered back-to-back defeats against Australia over the past two weeks.

Flyhalf Elton Jantjies and veteran utility back Frans Steyn have been included on the bench, which now has a 5/3 split between forwards and backs.

After deploying the usual 6/2 for most of the season, including in the two recent losses to Australia, Nienaber has taken a slightly different approach. That approach might have been forced on him though.

Looseforward Jasper Wiese faced a disciplinary hearing after receiving a yellow card against the Wallabies last week. The hearing should have taken place on Monday, 20 September at 5pm local time in Australia.

Frans Steyn is tackled by Dan Carter during a Tri-Nations clash between the Springboks and the All Blacks at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand on 5 July 2008. (Photo: Marty Melville/Getty Images)

But the hearing only started on Tuesday afternoon, ruling Wiese out of selection, much to the frustration of the Bok camp.

“Sanzaar (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby) cited Jasper within the allowed time limit after the game, so we have no problem with that,” Nienaber said from Australia.

“The issue is that that judicial timeline has not been met. It comes out on the Friday before a Test and it says that if there is a citing, then notification and pleading must happen within a certain time frame. Those time frames were all met according to the schedule, yet the time for the actual hearing, which should have been on Monday at 17h00, was not.

“That’s so that if a player is found not guilty, he is available to play the following week. This happened with [All Black] Jordie Barrett two weeks ago. His hearing took place at the correct time.

“But for some reason the judicial committee was unable to convene in time for Jasper’s case. They weren’t available at 17h00 yesterday [Monday] and the hearing only happened today [Tuesday].

“We only have one more training session, excluding the captain’s run, on Friday, so it doesn’t work for our own team selection protocols. It made it impossible for us to select Jasper. I am not sure why the timelines weren’t met in this case, but they were met with the Barrett case two weeks ago.”

As a result, Nienaber has also included mobile ball forager Kwagga Smith in the starting XV at the expense of the bigger and more physical Franco Mostert at flank. Mostert has played almost every minute of every game this season and is benched this week as part of his workload management.

With lock Lood de Jager returning to the starting lineup after missing last week’s 30-17 defeat to Australia through concussion protocols, Marvin Orie drops out of the match-day squad altogether. De Jager’s return is a boost for the lineout, especially with Smith’s inclusion.

Boks are their own hardest critics

After much criticism for their poor showing against the Wallabies last week, Nienaber said no one was harder on the Boks than themselves.

Elton Jantjies charges forward during the Springboks’ Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks at AMI Stadium in Christchurch on 17 September 2016. (Photo: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

“The pressure we put on ourselves is probably more than anything from the outside,” Nienaber said.

“I look at myself as a coach first and ask where we went wrong and what we could have done better. That’s how we are as a team. We have honest assessments, and we are open with each other, which is what I love about this group.

“I’ve coached someone like Duane Vermeulen since 2006 and we are straight-up with each other. The hardest criticism is when it comes from your peers, but we take it. We tell each other what we think and where we went wrong. It’s tough to swallow sometimes.

“The criticism internally and externally is tough on us but it’s a sign that people care, and that we also care. It would be far more worrying if we stopped being critical and stopped trying to find solutions. Then something would go wrong in the team. Fortunately, that is not the case with this group.

“I know this team is trying to do its best for South Africa, so we have to accept criticism when we fail. But my next job, and the team’s next job, is to ensure we are well prepared to face the All Blacks this weekend.”

Massive occasion

Much has been made of the fact that this weekend is the 100th Test between the sides exactly 100 years after they first met in Dunedin in 1921.

While it’s a storied history, the Boks are trying to stay focused on the immediate task of avoiding a third successive Rugby Championship defeat.

“What happened in the past is for historians to write books about, we can only talk about the now,” No 8 Duane Vermeulen said.

“New Zealand is a new game, a different team, and they play a different style, so we have to prepare differently for this game. We have our backs to the wall now, so hopefully we can get the result we want and get back on track.

“History is great but it’s about trying to stay in the Championship race regardless of the occasion. We just want to be a better team than we were last weekend and that means we have to improve.”

Nienaber added: “It’s always a massive task to face the All Blacks.

“They have skilful players who thrive on turnover ball and who know how to capitalise on point-scoring opportunities, so we know that we need to deliver a quality 80-minute performance against them to turn the corner after two disappointing defeats.

“Experience will be vital to ensure that we remain focused and calm throughout the match, and players such as Elton and Frans will bring that when they take the field. They have both played and won against the All Blacks, but they will also bring a set of different skills.

“Lood also boasts 51 Test caps, which will be valuable in this match, while Kwagga has faced them before as well, which gives us a chance to give Franco a well-deserved opportunity to be managed carefully this week after a physically taxing load since the season started.

“Both Elton and Frans have been training very well, they’ve also been in our structures for years and have performed well for the team in high-pressure matches, so we are keen to see what dynamic they will bring to the game.”

All Blacks expect tough encounter

Despite the rightful criticism, All Black lock Brodie Retallick told the media he won’t be underestimating the challenge of facing the world champions.

“You can’t underestimate them. We’ve talked about the fact it’s the 100th test and they’re the current World Cup champions. It’s the first time in a long time this team has played a current world champion… but they’ve earned that,” Retallick said from Brisbane.

Frans Steyn is tackled by Richie McCaw (left) and Sitiveni Sivivatu as the Springboks take on the All Blacks in a 2009 Tri-Nations match at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein on 25 July 2009. (Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images)

“Where they’ve caught us out the last couple of times, when they did, was through their line speed on defence. They’ve outmuscled us and we haven’t been able to break them down through our attack and then they’ve punished us.

“So, physically you’ve always got the set-piece battle, but dealing with their line speed and being able to make breaches and then convert them is going to be massive.

“It is two completely different styles. It’s what we do with the ball. We don’t want to get caught up going set piece to set piece, and if that does happen in periods we need to control it up front.

“But the freedom the boys are playing with and the way we’re using the ball and creating opportunities, it’s no doubt how we want to play our game.”

Springbok team

15-Willie le Roux, 14-Sbu Nkosi, 13-Lukhanyo Am, 12-Damian de Allende, 11-Makazole Mapimpi, 10-Handré Pollard, 9-Faf de Klerk, 8-Duane Vermeulen, 7-Kwagga Smith, 6-Siya Kolisi, 5-Lood de Jager, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Frans Malherbe, 2-Bongi Mbonambi, 1-Trevor Nyakane. Replacements: 16-Malcolm Marx, 17-Steven Kitshoff, 18-Vincent Koch, 19-Franco Mostert, 20-Marco van Staden, 21-Herschel Jantjies, 22-Elton Jantjies, 23-Frans Steyn. DM