Springboks: Nienaber laid the foundation, Flannery to lead the evolution

2026-03-06 - 12:43

Springbok defence coach Jerry Flannery says that former Bok head coach Jacques Nienaber laid the foundation from which they launched from to win two straight Rugby World Cups, but that they had to continue evolving if they want to win a third in Australia next year. Flannery was speaking at a Springbok media day in Cape Town earlier this week when he was quizzed on where the team stood defensively less than two years out from the global showpiece, and he explained that they had to continue building or risk falling away. Nienaber was the Boks‘ defence guru from 2018, as assistant to coach Rassie Erasmus, and during his spell as head coach, and since he left for Leinster after the 2023 World Cup, it has been Flannery who has stepped into the breach and kept up the extremely high defensive standards in the Bok team. Ferocious defence That was clearly seen during the November internationals last year, when despite going down to 14-men permanently on two occasions, the Boks walked away with comfortable wins over France and Italy, thanks in part to some ferocious defence. “If you speak real plainly, Jacques laid a massive foundation for the two World Cup wins with the work that he did around the defence,” said Flannery. “Jacques was embracing the stuff that South Africans do better than anyone else, which is being so physical, being so fit as well. And I think that that’s given a great framework. “But I don’t think you can ever consolidate and sit on something and say it’s okay because as we’ve seen, the game is constantly evolving. You’ve got to be on it every single week looking to see where there’s a small gain that you can make.” One of the key aspects of the game that needs constant attention is the aerial battle, and Flannery said it was a strength of the teams, and something they prided themselves on both attack and defence. “There’s the pressure you can exert on the actual quality of the opposition’s kick, and then there’s, I suppose, how you organise or align your players around it, from the stuff they do in the air to the way they contest,” explained Flannery. Winning the ball “The way Mzwandile Stick and Felix Jones get the boys contesting in the air gives you the best chance of winning the ball back. Then how you organise your players in the zones around there, and how loaded they are towards winning the breaking ball if you don’t field it in the air. “All of those little parts are pretty important because it has blown the game open now. Before, teams would try to catch you with a quick throw and create unstructured play, or take a quick tap. “Now, potentially every second or third kick can be something that just blows the game open, so it is a challenge for defence, but it’s been good for the game.” Flannery said that the evolution of Springbok rugby was about getting all the moving parts aligned under one plan, and that was something that they would be looking to do over the coming year to make sure they are fully prepared heading into a World Cup year. “The evolution of Springbok rugby is how we combine our defence, attack, kicking game, and set-piece, and try to put teams under massive pressure to score points and win Test matches, obviously. In essence, that is what we are trying to do,” said Flannery. “We always go, this is how we control the game, this is how we use our kicking game. This is how we use our defence to crack turnovers. And then we build our attack off those two things. So I feel as though we’re in a powerful position to push that forward over the next 12 months.”