Not only have Leinster romped into the semi-finals of Europe’s elite club competition by walloping Harlequins and the Glasgow Warriors with 62 and 52 points respectively on consecutive weekends, but the stats gurus tell us that the first of those victories was also the first time in 257 games that a team managed to prevent the opposition from scoring any points in a Champions Cup knockout game.
Although there were a few growing pains, Leinster had no doubt unearthed a 24-carat gem when they appointed Jacques Nienaber as their defence specialist in 2023.
Born in South Africa’s diamond capital, Kimberley, 52 years ago, Nienaber is a qualified physiotherapist. Instead of helping patients manage pain, he has been devising defensive strategies to hurt opposition teams for almost 20 years.
Apart from sheer scrum superiority and Bomb Squad impact, Nienaber’s defensive design had been a key ingredient of South Africa’s success in claiming back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles in 2019 and 2023. Now Leinster are benefitting spectacularly from the “Nienaber effect”.
Even on their recent United Rugby Championship tour of South Africa, on the harsh Highveld and in the Shark Tank, Leinster’s so-called academy side conceded a total of just three tries as they narrowly lost to the Bulls and saw off the Sharks.
True to form, Nienaber has been rather philosophical about it all, even downplaying the enormous effect that the defence has had on Leinster’s phenomenal form of late.
“People say ‘defence wins titles’, but you can’t win a title with defence,” Nienaber said this week.
“Attack wins games, not defence. However, defence can lose you games.”
Perhaps Nienaber was merely trying to divert attention away from Leinster’s nigh impenetrable defence. A naturally reserved person - he admitted to initially having been scared witless when required to address the media - his public relations skills have developed with his defensive systems over the years.
Nienaber’s emotional and professional growth can in no small way be attributed to the deep connection he has enjoyed with Rassie Erasmus since the early 1990s.
Erasmus is a smooth operator who thrives on thinking outside of the box - hence the Bomb Squad innovation.
Nienaber met Erasmus in 1991 while they were both completing compulsory military service. Due to the war that lasted nearly three decades on the border of Namibia and Angola, all able-bodied, Caucasian male citizens over the age of 16 were compelled to undergo intensive military training, which ranged from nine months to two years.
Nienaber has acknowledged that “Rassie is like a brother ... He supported me and understood me”.
Nienaber became a physiotherapist at the Cheetahs in 1997 while Erasmus was playing for the club and representing the Springboks, and continued as strength and conditioning coach when Erasmus took over as head coach in 2004.
The role soon evolved into defence specialist for the Cheetahs, Stormers, Munster and Springboks, as Erasmus became increasingly aware of Nienaber’s astute knowledge and understanding of the game, and specifically his input and communication concerning defence.
The rest is history, with the Erasmus-Nienaber duo guiding South Africa to the pinnacle of international rugby 10 years on.
The global conquest was squarely built on defensive innovation and character, as much as scrummaging supremacy and bench impact.
New Zealand and England found it extremely difficult during the World Cup final and semi-final in 2023 to cope with the Boks’ blitz defence, which is based on ferocious line speed, robust defence of the inside channel and a pinpoint kicking approach that thwarts the opposition’s attack.
In addition, South Africa place a premium on gaining ascendancy in the air and slowing the opposition ball at the breakdown.
This is exactly the style Nienaber has been introducing at Leinster since joining following that World Cup win in 2023.
If executed to perfection, his system is highly effective in shutting down the opposition and creating lethal counter-attacking opportunities, as we’ve seen over the past fortnight in Leinster’s runaway victories.
This kind of offensive defence, however, is also high-risk, both in terms of conceding penalties at the breakdown and exposing the defence on the outside.
This is perhaps why Ireland, with so many Leinster representatives, might have occasionally seemed somewhat at sea during last year’s autumn internationals and the recent Six Nations.
It is an aggressive approach and means constantly playing on a knife’s edge.
Collective scrambling becomes crucial to plug unexpected holes that might pop up wide, while the aggression can go over the top and result in the concession of points and even cards.
Ultimately, it is about finding the sweet spot.
According to Nienaber, it took the Boks about a year to settle into the system back in 2018 when he was appointed defence coach, and Leinster seem to have taken just as long to hit their straps in this department. And then some.
Nienaber’s defensive strategy is not only about getting it spot on technically and tactically, though. It is as much about mindset, with the correct execution injecting the team with heaps of emotional energy.
Leinster’s RG Snyman says that Nienaber has brought a different mindset to the defensive system and it is rooted in the correct mental attitude.
