Jacques of all trades
Nienaber’s expertise in range of areas can be missing piece in Leinster jigsaw
A third season without some silverware is unthinkable for this club
Nienaber is a coach who could bring the best out of Ryan Baird
JACQUES NIENABER would give the Duracell Bunny a run for his money. The South African talks as if his blood type is Red Bull. There doesn’t seem to be a neutral gear in Nienaber’s engine. His speech and thought process seems to travel at Mach 5.
Stories about this workaholic’s commitment to the cause are well worn at this stage. There are early risers. And then there is Nienaber.
During his 20-month stint at Munster, the low-key but hugely influential right-hand man to Rassie Erasmus, his alarm would apparently go off at 4.30am. A chance to get a jump on the day and, crucially, to get in a 6am run with his wife banked as well.
Back in his native Cape Town, he once competed in the Two Oceans Marathon, a breathtaking – in every sense of the word – run around the picturesque coastal city.
Nienaber has swapped sundrenched evenings and views of Table Mountain for Dublin in deepest, darkest winter.
You would have thought it would have been quite the comedown after South Africa’s latest World Cup triumph.
However, Nienaber did not come across as a character suffering with post-tournament blues when he arrived into a conference room to chat with the assembled media earlier this week.
Sporting his trademark spectacles and bedecked in Leinster kit, the 51-year-old spoke at length for the best part of 25 minutes about a variety of subjects, from the ins and outs of the modern game to the demands of high-level coaching on family life.
He’s a compelling character. He has been happy to let Rassie have most of the limelight throughout their transformative – in every sense of the word – six-year spell with South Africa.
But Nienaber seems like an equally engaging character in his own right. He is clearly a deep thinker about the game.
Is he the missing link for a Leinster team which has underachieved to such stratospheric levels of late? A third season without silverware is surely unthinkable for this juggernaut of a club. Something has been missing at the clutch moments in big games. Leinster are hoping their latest coaching acquisition can get under the bonnet and figure it out.
Nienaber has been part of an environment where winning has become a habit and sheer bloody mindedness was a key performance indicator. The differences between South Africa and Leinster are small but stark.
The Boks made it to the winners’ podium in Stade de France by dint of winning three high-pressure knockout games by a solitary point.
Leinster, meanwhile, have come agonisingly close to claiming the
Champions Cup in recent seasons. The margin of defeat against ROG’s side in last season’s finale at the Aviva? One point.
And 12 months previously against the same opposition, at the same stage in Marseille? Three points.
It really is a game of inches at this level and Leinster have been in a desperate search to find something or someone to give them that elusive edge – the extra one percenters which made all the different at the top level. It’s Nienaber’s currency.
He didn’t apply for the vacant gig when Stuart Lancaster signalled his intention to leave after making such a big impact at the club since his shock arrival in late 2016. Cullen sought him out. It felt like an odd appointment at the time but it has made progressively more sense.
Where are Leinster’s blind spots and biggest areas for improvement? Defence and mental strength. So, Cullen, in a post-World Cup market, went out and sought to recruit the market leader in both areas.
He’s only been on the ground a wet week but there is already a sense that Nienaber is leaving his imprint on the operation. Leinster players were impressed by his knowledge of the system, terms and plays when he first pitched up at training. A very Schmidt-esque trait, that.
Clarity is a big thing this season. Everyone knows their lane on this coaching ticket but as Nienaber pointed out this week, he won’t be afraid to tell the boss if he has a few ideas about who should feature in the weekend’s starting team.
Nienaber will be in the Leinster coaches’ box for the first time at Stade Marcel Deflandre today.
He will need time to bed in some of his new ideas and strategies. But expect a bit more bite in their defence against the defending champions.
Is this afternoon’s team selection a bit instructive? Did Nienaber have his two cents on the starting line-up? He would have liked the look of Will Connors, with his choptackling and workrate. Connors is the kind of breakdown pest who would have fitted in very nicely with the Bomb Squad.
Nienaber might be the best thing that has ever happened to Ryan Baird. Now, there is a physical specimen who wouldn’t look out of place in the Springbok ranks. An injury to Jack Conan has opened the door for Baird to make an impression on the blindside flank, a place he excelled for large swathes of last season.
The 24-year-old remains something of an enigma in the Irish game. He has been motoring along nicely but Baird has the potential to be a generational talent. There is no forward in the country who can do what he does.
Baird has looked like a player who has struggled for an identity. Nienaber worked with Pieter Steph du Toit for a long time, unquestionably the best blindside flanker on the planet.
A player who knows his game and knows who to maximise his strengths. Nienaber may well turn Baird into Pieter Steph du Toit. Watch this space.
The hosts, meanwhile, who will be shorn of the banned head coach, are getting into their rhythm after a stuttering start to the season.
The visitors are finding their groove in the post-Sexton and Lancaster era. Victory today will be a big fillip but both of these teams expect to meet again at the business end of this competition. And Leinster hope that this turbocharged South African will be able to make the difference.