FIVE GAMES INTO the new season, life is looking rosy for Leinster. The province haven taken maximum points from their opening URC games and have played some brilliant rugby along the way, all with a sense that there is even more to come.
While Leinster have gone through long spells without scoring in games, they’ve also delivered some excellent attacking moments in notching up five bonus-point wins, while their defence has been outstanding.
One reason for their strong start was the opportunity to enjoy a full pre-season together. Last year, Ireland’s World Cup campaign kept a bulk of the squad away for the early URC games while defence coach Jacques Nienaber didn’t start his role until late November, after helping guide the Springboks to back-to-back World Cups.
The knock-on effect was that Leinster adopted Nienaber’s defensive system on the go. This time, a full summer of work together has helped tighten up any loose ends.
“The start from a performance point of view couldn’t have gone much better,” Nienaber says.
“From a performance point of view and the winning and the bonus points, that’s good, but I think the other thing that is very positive for me is the fact that the growth of the squad, and the experience and great squad depth.”
While Leinster already have the bulk of their internationals fit and firing, young players continue to push through. Saturday’s impressive win in Connacht included five academy players and two debuts. That continuous churn of talent has proven a real area of strength for Leinster under Leo Cullen.
And with Cullen set to sign a new two-year deal with Leinster, as first reported by The 42 yesterday, Nienaber confirmed his own contract runs until 2026.
The two-time World Cup winner admits he misses some aspects of working in international rugby, but is enjoying the demands of working with a squad week on week.
“International rugby isn’t as creative as club rugby, because you don’t work as long with them. You only get them in a week before a Test match.
“The consequences to your actions are a lot bigger than at club level. Where at club level, if you lose a game, it’s not written in history. If you lose a final, it’s written in history, but if you lose a match, it doesn’t matter what Test match, it’s written in history. People will go back and they will be ‘Ireland played against New Zealand on Friday, November 8’. Whoever wins or loses that Test match, it will be written in history. Where if we lose this weekend against the Lions or the Lions lose this weekend against us, it’s not going to be in history. So you miss that. That all or nothing aspect of it.
“That’s the one side, but the side that I was keen on was the creativity side of things. Even if you look at, I use it often as an example, quick tap penalties in the ‘22’. I think it was in club rugby probably two years before an international team were doing it. In 2023 against France, we (South Africa) scored the try that won us the game in the quarter-final from a quick tap penalty. Which is something, if I ask you have you seen that ever with South Africa, ever in your life? No, because it is just not something that you would not think of doing, because there is too much risk.
“I do miss it (international rugby) in the one sense, but if you ask me ‘do you want to go back there now?’ No, I don’t want to go back there.
I like the development that I’m currently, as a coach, experiencing and the stimulus that I’m getting currently at club level.
“That’s why I wanted to leave international from a coach point of view. That’s why I wanted to leave international rugby. To just get exposure again at club level, because it’s different. Teams have a crack at you every week, where at international level you will play… When we left (Munster) in 2018, we didn’t play against Ireland until 2022. So your defence never gets tested by an Irish attack, where here you get tested weekly, which is great.”
Nienaber added that the news on Ciarán Frawley’s injury was “much better than what we expected” ahead of tomorrow’s squad announcement for Ireland’s November internationals.
Frawley was forced off after rolling his ankle against Connacht but has not yet been ruled out of Saturday’s meeting with the Lions at Aviva Stadium, with 20,500 tickets sold for the game.
