- Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber believes the series against the British & Irish Lions is not the place for the national team to start innovating.
- There's a good reason for that: It's been over 580 days since the Boks have been together as a full squad, meaning they basically start from scratch again.
- But Nienaber notes the presence of most of his World Cup winners means gelling as a team again might not be all that difficult.
Progress, innovation, elevation.
Call it what you want, there is always a deep desire from the South African rugby community to see the Springboks add new strings to their bow after they've won Rugby Championships or World Cups.
Jacques Nienaber, the national coach, also acknowledges that his team needs to evolve if it wants to stay the best in the world.
But the upcoming series against the British & Irish Lions won't be the time and place where it happens.
"When we assemble for the national camp again, it would've been over 580 days since we were last together as a squad playing," said Nienaber.
"That's not an excuse, we're way past that. I just want everyone to be back on the same page. But we can't deny it's a reality check."
Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged the Springboks' playing schedule until now, to such an extent that two Tests against Georgia will be the only preparation they have before the Lions assignment.
Given the stakes involved, minimising risk is an understandable and overriding goal.
"One of the things I've thought about profoundly is us just speaking the same language again," said Nienaber.
"It sounds crude, but what do we call a skip pass at the Boks? Players forget things like that - they play for Sale, Toulouse and Toyota. They forget what a skip pass entails in the national setup.
"To a large extent, we're going to have to start from the beginning again."
ForwardsThomas du Toit, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe, Ox Nche, Trevor Nyakane, Coenie Oosthuizen, Joseph Dweba, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Scarra Ntubeni, Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Franco Mostert, Marvin Orie, RG Snyman, Dan du preez, Jean-Luc du Preez, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Rynhardt Elstadt, Siya Kolisi, Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden, Duane Vermeulen, Jasper WieseBacks
Faf de Klerk, Herschel Jantjies, Sanele Nohamba, Cobus Reinac, Elton Jantjies, Handre Pollard, Morne Steyn, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Wandisile Simelane, Frans Steyn, Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi, Sbu Nkosi, Yaw Penxe, Rosko Specman, Damian Willemse
However, Nienaber has the luxury of calling on 29 of the 33 players that did duty in 2019's World Cup triumph.
"I believe the experience of our core group of World Cup winners will make it easier and that the progress we're aiming for is achieved quicker because there's a good basis to work from," he said.
"At the moment, it's a case of getting our fundamentals, our foundation in place and maintaining its standard. Then we can decide whenever we want to innovate."
The players can also count on a head coach itching to do more hands-on coaching after being denied the chance to get stuck in since being appointed in January 2020.
"I'm so excited about the squad. For 18 months, we've just been watching rugby and witnessing how the players perform. We had our finger on the pulse, had interaction and sent clips to them. The engagement was weekly in many instances," said Nienaber.
"But now it's time for the real thing."