Nienaber adamant about focused Boks despite Jantjies drama: 'Can't waste energy on outside pressure'

Despite a continued ban on any Elton Jantjies-related questioning, Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber reiterated his colleague Deon Davids' party line that the side's focus is exactly where it needs to be ahead of Saturday's Rugby Championship meeting with Argentina in Buenos Aires.

A sense of unease currently surrounds the team after the mercurial flyhalf was sent home along with dietician Zeenat Simjee following revelations of an alleged romantic affair between the two, raising a myriad of questions over management's code of conduct and ethos on internal matters.

SA Rugby previously stated that no team protocols were breached in the Jantjies saga.

"I've said before that there's a lot of pressure any national team has to deal with. There are two types. One is external pressure. Can we control that? No. There's internal pressure, the type where we demand certain standards from each other. It's about expectations. That's the pressure we can control," Nienaber said on Tuesday.

"Internal pressure is what we focus on. External pressure, be it injuries or even speculation, is something we have to brush aside because we can't control it. It's no use expending energy on it. We can't change it. It is what it is."

READ | Boks try to keep focus on Argentina amid Jantjies scandal: 'It was handled in a professional manner'

Assisting them in their mission of keeping rugby at the forefront of their thoughts, the Boks are viewing the match - along with next week's re-match in Durban - as a play-off match for staying in the hunt for the Rugby Championship title.

"We're 100% treating the last two matches as a semifinal or a final. If we want to be successful and claim this title, we have to treat it that way," said Nienaber.     

"Every Test