Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber could not tell whether his playmaking flyhalf Damian Willemse will be fit for battle when his team re-engages Los Pumas in the Rugby Championship decider in Durban on Saturday.
In the aftermath of Saturday’s helter-skelter 36-20 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires, Nienaber was not yet in a position to make binding announcements on player availability next weekend.
Willemse left the field in the second half after poorly executed tackle technique saw him collect a bump to the head. Nienaber will be desperate to press Willemse into action as the Boks have discovered their try scoring mojo with him at first receiver.
With Handré Pollard injured and Elton Jantjies out in the cold as a result of his escapades in the lowveld, Willemse has been doing duty at flyhalf in the Boks’ last two matches, both resulting in wins away from home.
“I haven't spoken to the doc yet,” said Nienaber about Willemse soon after the match. “I’m not 100% sure what it was. I’d be lying if I gave an answer.”
Nienaber may have to consider deploying Frans Steyn at flyhalf if Willemse is unable to take his place.
Had the Boks been out of contention for the Championship, Nienaber and Co would have made significant changes to the line-up for the Durban clash. They are still, however, in a position to challenge for top honours but a lot depends on the result of the match in Auckland between the All Blacks and the Wallabies earlier on Saturday.
The All Blacks and the Springboks both have 14 points but the former’s points difference is 13 superior.
Nienaber will have to perform a juggling act as players such as Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Pollard are in various stages of recovery from injury.
“We will have to let people know in SA in terms of who we will bring back into the squad,” said Nienaber. “That will only happen after some assessments from an injury point of view. We will announce our team on Monday.
“We will only get back to SA on Monday morning between one and three am. So we will have a short week.”
Both teams are, however, in the same boat, or in this case aircraft, as they started their journey in an abbreviated week. “It will be a level playing field,” acknowledged Nienaber.
Apart from conceding some scrum battles and the odd line-out throw the Boks will have to address their discipline, which almost cost them the match in Buenos Aires. As Argentina built a head of steam in the second half, the visitors were increasingly prone to infringements and the yellow cards shown to Willie le Roux and Kwagga Smith meant their teammates were left to scramble.
They did so with distinction though, which helped the visitors deliver two telling blows late in the game to stay in the hunt for the Championship.
“Our mindset was to come and get maximum points,” said Kolisi about the final surge that carried them to victory. “The momentum changed in the second half. When we were able to keep them from our try line and got the penalties the boys got belief. Our gameplan allows us to get opportunities like this. In the last couple of games we’ve taken those opportunities.”
Kolisi admitted it had been a tough week with all the deflating news emanating from home. An online report hours before kickoff in Buenos Aires suggested several players had tested positive for cocaine. SA Rugby and Nienaber have denied any truth to it.
“We players obviously read what everyone writes and its hard. Some players can take it and others can’t. The biggest thing we can do is to stick together,” Kolisi said.
“That is what we said to each other before we played. This is a special group. We’ll keep on fighting. As long as Rassie [Erasmus, SA’s director of rugby], Jacques and the other coaches believe we are good enough, we believe and push as hard as we can. We have ambitions of doing so much more.
“I’m very excited to be going home. I heard Durban is sold out. I can’t say I’ve played in a Test where it is sold out in Durban.”
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