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

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