'We're not geniuses!' Nienaber says after RWC final selection pays off

Strength in depth and the positional versatility of the 33-strong squad were behind South Africa's record fourth World Cup title, coach Jacques Nienaber said, warning not to dub his staff "geniuses" over their leftfield selection.

Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok had been first-choice halfbacks in the run-up to Saturday's final in which South Africa edged New Zealand 12-11.

But Nienaber rang the changes for the final at the Stade de France, recalling Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard, the architects of the 2019 World Cup-winning team in Japan.

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He also went for a replacements' bench comprising seven forwards and just one back in Willie le Roux, backing the players he picked to play to their strengths.

Pollard hadn't even made the initial squad and was only called up as an injury replacement for hooker Malcom Marx. That had left the squad with just one specialist hooker in Bongi Mbonambi.

As it turned out, Mbonambi went off injured within minutes of the kickoff, replaced by 37-year-old flanker-turned-hooker Deon Fourie.

"I'm not saying we're geniuses!" said Nienaber, who took over from Rassie Erasmus as head coach after the latter had led the Boks to glory in Japan before taking up a director of rugby role.

"We don't try and be creative and think out of the box.

"It's not genius, it's just that the players we have have the ability to give us different tactical viewpoints.

"It's the strength of the group, it's 33 players who understand their roles, they don't have egos and they buy into it.

"That gives us the opportunity to maybe go a little bit different than normal."

Nienaber said the country's record fourth title after previous successes in 1995,