The difference is subtle, but noticeable.
Leinster have made a change to how they operate defensively. The link between that shift and the impending impact of a noteworthy new defence coach is all too difficult to ignore.
In advance of Jacques Nienaber’s arrival, perhaps the defensive system he is about to inherit is not altogether different from what the World Cup-winning coach is used to.
Leinster have historically been a side that is selective when competing at the breakdown. Though accomplished poachers such as Andrew Porter and Caelan Doris are in their midst, in the past they have preferred to have numbers set in the defensive line rather than commit plenty of bodies to the ruck.
Last Saturday’s victory over the Scarlets was the most stark example of Leinster’s newfound desire to hunt for possession on the floor. Their first try came via a counterattack after James Ryan successfully jackalled. Across the game, they had 79 defensive ruck arrivals and nine total turnovers.
This season, Leinster are averaging 7.8 turnovers a game. This is good for third most in the league, behind both Connacht and Benetton, and, more pertinently, higher than their average last season of 6.7 across the entire URC campaign.
The increase hasn’t come from any change in game plan. Leinster still love to hold onto the ball; they have the fourth highest number of carries this season in the URC. The province ranks a lowly 13th out of 16 teams for average number of kicks per match and 12th for number of tackles. Leinster still prefer to play with the ball than without – the turnovers figure hasn’t gone up simply because they are defending more.
These turnovers include changes of possession both at the breakdown and in the collision. On Saturday, both Joe McCarthy and Josh van der Flier were prominent in ripping the ball in collisions.
That Scarlets match might have been an extreme example of what’s changed. As Garry Ringrose – so often pivotal to Leinster and Ireland’s defensive systems at outside centre – points out, Scarlets being a man down to a yellow card as early as the first minute allowed for more aggression in a bid to kill the game off.
“It was the nature of the game a little bit,” he says of Leinster’s defensive work rate. “There were opportunities where the lads did well to take, taking it in a relatively disciplined way.”
What has changed this season for Leinster is, of course, their defence coach. While awaiting Nienaber’s arrival, Sean O’Brien has been in charge on that side of the ball. A former openside flanker, famed for his physicality both on the floor and in contact, now leading a defence which has – in a limited sample size – shown a penchant for something similar? Narratives can be formed out of that.
“He’d challenge lads from a physical perspective, he has a presence,” says Ringrose of O’Brien. “How he played the game is how he’d want to coach it as well. Some of the forwards would probably give you a better answer but he is challenging lads to be more aggressive without overcommitting numbers, [to be] more effective when you are in there [the breakdown].”
“I’m not 100 per cent sure but I think he’s been talking to Jacques [Nienaber] as well.”
There it is. Nienaber is not running the show yet, but he can be having some sort of impact.
Curiously enough, forcing turnovers isn’t as big a part of South Africa’s game as one might think. During their significant World Cup matches, they only averaged five per game. Instead, as Ringrose again notes, it’s more about the initial collision, work rate and effectiveness.
“It starts with contact which the South Africans have a knack of winning,” he says. “Then it’s being intelligent off the back of that. We’re all challenged to be aggressive and make an impact but in a disciplined way.
“You see defensively how strong South Africa are but how hard they work for each other. Maybe it looks a bit chaotic sometimes but there’s more to it than that. I’d be interested to lift the veil and see behind it all.”
Be it at the breakdown or when winning turnovers more generally, Leinster are certainly working harder, with more aggression and more success this year. Led by O’Brien coaching in his own playing style with the South African Nienaber in his ear, maybe Ringrose et al have had the veil lifted for them sooner than they thought.
