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.
Todayโs final against Toulouse is the logical time for South African senior coach Jacques Nienaberโs 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 wasnโt helpful that Nienaber missed all of Leinsterโs 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 Leinsterโs players to grasp it and he was right โ the timeline concluded with the quarter-final win over La Rochelle when Leinsterโs defence was brilliant.
Nienaber said Leinsterโs players would have to โrewire their brainsโ to get comfortable with his ultra-aggressive defence but second row James Ryan says it hasnโt been all that complicated.
โIt hasnโt been tricky, itโs very simple in terms of the system; itโs just about committing to it,โ says the Leinster lock, who will come off the bench today.
โSo probably for the first while there was a little bit of teething stuff with it as everyone got used to the way weโre trying to defend.
โBut as a coach he gives unbelievably good clarity. Itโs easy to get behind. Weโve loved it and heโs a bit of a character as well. Heโs got a good way of delivering messages, heโs got funny anecdotes as well. Itโs enjoyable as a player to work with.โ
Weโve heard about Nienaberโs powerful messages in team meetings but Ryan smiles when asked for an example of the anecdotes.
โNone I can think of off the top of my head, most I canโt share anyway!โ says Ryan.
โThatโs his way of approaching it, heโs 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 โshitfightโ as much as possible.
That will be part of the plan today โ to wreck Toulouseโs chances of attacking with quick, clean ball by assaulting their breakdown through classic jackaling but even more so through โbargingโ after the tackle. That relentless counter-rucking work has been a prominent feature of Leinsterโs defence this season.
And while the focus tends to be on the linespeed of Nienaberโs 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.
Leinsterโs 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 Leinserโs 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.
โIf 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.
โI 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 weโre going to need to be properly on it and have an awareness at times that theyโre 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.
โItโs definitely going to be a test but weโre looking forward to it.โ
Leinster boss Leo Cullen says Nienaber has been โa 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.
Thereโs 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 wasnโt there before. Whether itโs enough to help them finally end the wait for a Champions Cup title remains to be seen.
But theyโre glad to have a man of his nous in their corner.
โWith 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.
โSo being able to pick his brains on a week like thisโฆ unfortunately, like he said to us before, there is no magic pill.
โBut itโs about staying in the fight for the full 80, making everything a contest, whether itโs a ruck, a tackle or a barge, whatever it is thatโs the way he looks at it.
โSo heโs been brilliant and hopefully we can go one step further.โ
Replace one warrior with another. Good.
@Chris Mc: Seanie will right a few things ahead of next season.
@Chris Mc: Iโm 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 OโBrien as โa flanker so tough and hard-edged heโs basically a roll of barbed wire in boots.โ Great move by Leinster.
Great signing a great bit of business
No need to clean the toilets in cassidys
@Tony Mcgrath: bit of an insulting remark from a Munster supporter. Check your own coaches for a similar problem.
He might play a few games even. Would love to see it
I thought he was taking the pee ;)
@CAMILA REMONA: bad news for the Dublin homeless
Good project that hopefully works out
Seamus replacing Leamy. I wonder could we persuade Isa to come back and replace Dr. Phil?
RDS busy installing golden showers
Out with the old, in with the new!