On Saturday, rumours and reports started to swirl online about the Bok team, with SA Rugby magazine reporting that Sunday newspaper Rapport was ready to publish a story about “several Springboks having tested positive for ‘recreational drugs’”.
VIDEO: HOW BOKS RESPONDED TO LATEST EXPLOSIVE REPORTS
Ultimately, those reports never surfaced, with the word being that there was too much conflicting information to publish anything as fact.
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Those rumours came in a week where the Springboks had been preparing for a crucial clash against Argentina, although much of the build-up to that match had been overshadowed by reports of an alleged affair between flyhalf Elton Jantjies and Springbok dietician Zeenat Simjee.
Ultimately, the Boks did extremely well to keep their focus on the job at hand, and came away with a vital bonus-point victory.
The Springboks are now in a decent position to push for the Rugby Championship title if they can achieve another big win over Argentina this weekend, and Nienaber spoke this week about the pressures the team has had to deal with.
“The rugby pressure is nice because that is what you want, but the other pressure is disappointing,” Nienaber said. “We know the truth and we’ve put up a statement and we’ve always said we’re going to be truthful and if there’s off-the-field stuff that we can comment on that’s truthful, then we’ll do so.
“We’ve got nothing to hide, so we feel the noise has been irritating. No coach wants their team to have that kind of pressure on their team. It’s got nothing to do with rugby, but we like the rugby pressure, and we like that fact that Saturday’s game is a final. We like the fact that all four teams are still in it to win it.”
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SA Rugby previously released this statement:
SA Rugby is aware that unsubstantiated allegations of failed tests for recreational drugs by Springbok players are circulating among members of the media.
Disappointingly, these allegations have already appeared online despite the absence of any evidence to support them.
SA Rugby has consistently advised all inquiring media that no such reports have been received by SA Rugby or any player from the only authority permitted to perform such tests, the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport. SA Rugby does not conduct its own tests.
Despite the absence of any such reports, players and management in Argentina have been contacted to “tell their story”, distracting and destabilising the entire camp in the build-up today’s Test against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
SA Rugby wishes to repeat that it has no evidence of any adverse analytical findings for any kind of drug – be it performance enhancing or recreational – by Springbok players and regards the publication or the threat to publish such allegations as a deliberate attempt to sabotage the team’s preparations.
READ: SPRINGBOKS RELEASE STATEMENT ON JANTJIES SCANDAL
The Bok team are still in with a chance of winning the Rugby Championship
The Springboks are currently level on 14 log points with New Zealand on the Rugby Championship log and trail the All Blacks by 13 points on points’ difference.
The Boks, however, will know exactly what they need to do in the match to clinch the title when they take the field as the All Blacks will host Australia in Auckland earlier in the day.