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Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber. Billy Stickland/INPHO

'He's a bit of a character' - Time for the Nienaber Effect to take flight

The South African senior coach has had a huge influence on Leinster this season.

AND SO THE time has arrived for the Nienaber Effect to come to bear. Leinster signed the two-time World Cup winner for precisely this reason: helping them over the line in the Champions Cup.

Todayโ€™s final against Toulouse is the logical time for South African senior coach Jacques Nienaberโ€™s influence to be most obvious. Leinster have come up short on narrow margins in the last two finals, with their defence conceding three times in both defeats to La Rochelle, so Nienaber has been tasked with bridging the gap.

It wasnโ€™t helpful that Nienaber missed all of Leinsterโ€™s pre-season and a fair chunk of the actual season due to his commitments with the Springboks but he made an immediate impression upon arrival in November. Players and coaches liked the fact that Nienaber knew all their language and systems the first day he turned up.

And he immediately set about turning their defence inside out, or rather outside in given how he asks defenders on the edge of the defensive line to operate. Nienaber promised it would take 14 games for Leinsterโ€™s players to grasp it and he was right โ€“ the timeline concluded with the quarter-final win over La Rochelle when Leinsterโ€™s defence was brilliant.

Nienaber said Leinsterโ€™s players would have to โ€œrewire their brainsโ€ to get comfortable with his ultra-aggressive defence but second row James Ryan says it hasnโ€™t been all that complicated.

โ€œIt hasnโ€™t been tricky, itโ€™s very simple in terms of the system; itโ€™s just about committing to it,โ€ says the Leinster lock, who will come off the bench today.

โ€œSo probably for the first while there was a little bit of teething stuff with it as everyone got used to the way weโ€™re trying to defend.

โ€œBut as a coach he gives unbelievably good clarity. Itโ€™s easy to get behind. Weโ€™ve loved it and heโ€™s a bit of a character as well. Heโ€™s got a good way of delivering messages, heโ€™s got funny anecdotes as well. Itโ€™s enjoyable as a player to work with.โ€

jacques-nienaber Leinster's players have loved working with Nienaber. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

Weโ€™ve heard about Nienaberโ€™s powerful messages in team meetings but Ryan smiles when asked for an example of the anecdotes.

โ€œNone I can think of off the top of my head, most I canโ€™t share anyway!โ€ says Ryan.

โ€œThatโ€™s his way of approaching it, heโ€™s good at stories and the language he uses is good.โ€

Nienaber reckons the Leinster players were initially shocked at just how much he curses but they have come to embrace his destructive approach, which includes making the breakdown a โ€˜shitfightโ€™ as much as possible.

That will be part of the plan today โ€“ to wreck Toulouseโ€™s chances of attacking with quick, clean ball by assaulting their breakdown through classic jackaling but even more so through โ€˜bargingโ€™ after the tackle. That relentless counter-rucking work has been a prominent feature of Leinsterโ€™s defence this season.

And while the focus tends to be on the linespeed of Nienaberโ€™s defence, with the edge defenders encouraged to get high and infield in order to stop the ball, the quality of his technical coaching and his influence on the playersโ€™ mindset has been as obvious.

Leinsterโ€™s tackle selection has been strong in their best performances โ€“ low chop tackles, slow wrestling double tackles, one high-one low, a total combination of techniques even within one defensive passage. 

And Leinserโ€™s players have a defensive energy that is greater than before. Whereas previously they came most alive when attacking, now they seem most enthused by throwing themselves into defensive sets.

The hard work of recent months means Leinster believe their defence is ready for perhaps its greatest challenge against this lethal Toulouse side.

โ€œIf you look at our first half against Northampton [in the semi-final], it was right up there, it showed how far it progressed since that first game Connacht,โ€ says Caelan Doris, who has been particularly excellent in defence for Leinster.

jacques-nienaber-arrives Nienaber arrived in Leinster in November. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

โ€œI think everyone has bought into it massively. I think the ability Toulouse have in attack and them averaging 40-plus points [per game], I think weโ€™re going to need to be properly on it and have an awareness at times that theyโ€™re going to get turnovers, they will make linebreaks, they have such quality, and it is about our effort, our work-rate and our scramble and enjoying that and loving that.

โ€œItโ€™s definitely going to be a test but weโ€™re looking forward to it.โ€

Leinster boss Leo Cullen says Nienaber has been โ€œa breath of fresh airโ€ for the players, while the coaching staff have enjoyed bouncing ideas off a man who sees things differently from some of them.

Thereโ€™s no doubt that this Leinster team is in the image of Nienaber. They look to create a beautiful chaos and have a wild streak that wasnโ€™t there before. Whether itโ€™s enough to help them finally end the wait for a Champions Cup title remains to be seen.

But theyโ€™re glad to have a man of his nous in their corner.

โ€œWith South Africa at the World Cup, you saw how close the games were. Quarter, semi, final, one-point games that they were coming out on the right side of it and we were coming out the wrong side of games like that at Leinster,โ€ says Ryan.

โ€œSo being able to pick his brains on a week like thisโ€ฆ unfortunately, like he said to us before, there is no magic pill.

โ€œBut itโ€™s about staying in the fight for the full 80, making everything a contest, whether itโ€™s a ruck, a tackle or a barge, whatever it is thatโ€™s the way he looks at it.

โ€œSo heโ€™s been brilliant and hopefully we can go one step further.โ€

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    Mute Chris Mc
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    Jun 1st 2022, 1:52 PM

    Replace one warrior with another. Good.

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    Mute SPQH
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    Jun 1st 2022, 10:45 PM

    @Chris Mc: Seanie will right a few things ahead of next season.

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    Mute Trev
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    Jun 2nd 2022, 12:22 AM

    @Chris Mc: Iโ€™m sure you remember this quote from the 2017 Lions tour: Phil Gifford, from Stuff, who was critical of the Lions style of play in general, referred to Sean Oโ€™Brien as โ€œa flanker so tough and hard-edged heโ€™s basically a roll of barbed wire in boots.โ€ Great move by Leinster.

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    Mute Bgkph
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    Jun 1st 2022, 1:48 PM

    Great signing a great bit of business

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    Mute Tony Mcgrath
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    Jun 1st 2022, 5:46 PM

    No need to clean the toilets in cassidys

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    Mute Trevor Johnston
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    Jun 1st 2022, 10:47 PM

    @Tony Mcgrath: bit of an insulting remark from a Munster supporter. Check your own coaches for a similar problem.

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    Mute Gally Had
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    Jun 1st 2022, 1:47 PM

    He might play a few games even. Would love to see it

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    Mute CAMILA REMONA
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    Jun 1st 2022, 5:52 PM

    I thought he was taking the pee ;)

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    Mute Martin
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    Jun 1st 2022, 9:30 PM

    @CAMILA REMONA: bad news for the Dublin homeless

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    Mute Scott Crossfield
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    Jun 1st 2022, 2:12 PM

    Good project that hopefully works out

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    Mute Ro Molloy
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    Jun 1st 2022, 5:11 PM

    Seamus replacing Leamy. I wonder could we persuade Isa to come back and replace Dr. Phil?

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    Mute Martin
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    Jun 1st 2022, 9:31 PM

    RDS busy installing golden showers

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    Mute Harry O'Callaghan
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    Jun 2nd 2022, 1:20 AM

    Out with the old, in with the new!

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