Durban — Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber says he knows the heat is mounting on him to produce a win against Australia in Sydney on Saturday, but he says he is focusing only on the pressure the Boks are putting on themselves to end their losing streak.
The Boks have lost three of their six games played so far this year and go into the second match against the Wallabies on the back of consecutive losses to New Zealand and Australia.
“We all feel pressure because we want to produce for our country, we represent our people, but the pressure we feel most is on ourselves to get solutions for the next game and not necessarily the pressure coming from the outside,” said Nienaber, whose win record is played 19, won 11 and lost 8 (58%)
“No coach can control the outside pressure — that comes with the territory and we live and die by that pressure, but if you start focusing on that pressure you are focusing on the wrong thing. We focus only on our internal pressure ... on the things we want to achieve and the things we want to get right because that is the pressure we can control.”
After the Boks had beaten the All Blacks in Nelspruit, Nienaber had sympathy for opposite number Ian Foster, and he reiterated the comments he made back then.
“The external pressure on coaches will always be there and this week it is on us — once you lose two games the pressure comes, but we can only focus on the pressure we can control,” he said.
Nienaber added that the Boks are approaching Saturday’s Rugby Championship match as if it was a Cup final.
“This week is a final for us to stay in the competition and we are expecting Australia to be desperate, but so are we,” Nienaber said.
“We let ourselves down in the last two games and we are determined to rectify that and change our fortunes in Australia. We’ll prepare as well as possible this week to stay in the hunt for the title.”
@MikeGreenaway