Pollard to take care of kicking duties against Tonga as Nienaber applauds the efforts in his absence

• Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber may have been at pains to explain why Handre Pollard will be the first-choice goalkicker against Tonga on Sunday but said the pivot's tee accuracy has been missed.
• Pollard, who will start at flyhalf in what will be his first Springbok game since August last year, has been bedevilled by injuries.
• He returned to the squad two weeks ago after hooker Malcolm Marx was ruled out of the World Cup with a knee injury.
• For more sports news, please visit News24 Sport's front page.

In Toulon

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was at pains to explain that the returning Handre Pollard will be the primary goalkicker for Sunday's Rugby World Cup game against Tonga in Marseille but admitted goalkicking consistency has dogged them in Pollard's absence.

Pollard will start at flyhalf in what will be his first Springbok Test since the 25-17 loss against Australia in Adelaide on 27 August last year, a game that also saw missed opportunities and wayward goalkicking.

Pollard suffered a knee injury in the game that he subsequently recovered from, but suffered a calf injury while on duty with the Leicester Tigers in May that forced him to spectate through the Boks' World Cup preparations and miss out on initial squad selection.

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He returned just over two weeks ago as Malcolm Marx's replacement, with the hooker ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury in the week leading up to the Romania game the Boks won 76-0.

Nienaber said their goalkicking matter was far more complex than it's been made out to be since August last year.

"The first reality is for all to see and it's that we are not as consistent as the tee as one should hope we can be," Nienaber said.

"I think in some games, we kick 100 percent, if you go back in history there are some Test matches where we didn't miss a kick at goal, like France in 2022 and we used three different kickers that night.

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"But we are not consistently there. In some games, we will kick 100 percent, in some games we will kick 80 percent, and in some games, we will kick less than 50 percent. So that's the first reality.

"The second reality is that the guy who is the most consistent off the tee for us is Handre, but like I mentioned, he has been injured. He didn't participate in any Test matches for us in 13 months.

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"So, I think the whole goalkicking thing, the flyhalf thing that's building up, I think the people out there and the fans, it's not just a simple thing as is it goalkicking? It's not, it's a much more complex thing."

Nienaber said the team has been well looked after by its kickers in Pollard's absence, with Manie Libbok, Damian Willemse, Cheslin Kolbe, and Faf de Klerk all taking turns managing the tee.

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Nienaber said the Boks have managed to remain successful to a point where they won 75 percent of the Tests in Pollard's absence.

However, the two ones they lost against Ireland had goalkicking issues involved, where points missed off the tee contributed to the losses, even though Nienaber said their inability to convert their chances were part of those losses.

"The third reality is that the guys who had to step up for Handre being injured and that had to take over the kicking role were Damian Willemse and Manie Libbok.

"In the 13 months that Handre wasn't available for the Springboks, there were 16 Test matches and we won 75% of those 16 Test matches.

"We lost four and the four we lost were two against Ireland, who is the number one team in the world, and everybody is struggling against them then we lost to New Zealand in Auckland this year.

"The other Test match we lost where those two guys were steering the Springboks and driving the team in the 10 jersey was against France in Marseilles when we got a red card.

"In three of those Test matches, it was very close, even this past one, up until the 78th minute there were two points in it.

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"Yes, we are not consistent off the tee, but Handre was injured, and he was in the past the most consistent guy off the tee.

"The guys that stepped in, I don't think they did a bad job, maybe off the tee, but in terms of win percentage and steering the team and getting good results ... and out of those 16 Test matches, only three were at home, 13 were away from home."