Another ex-player weighs in on new Jacques Nienaber theory in Ireland

Former Ireland wing Andrew Trimble has given his take on the theory that Leinster coach Jacques Nienaber is responsible for Ireland’s decline, describing it as “so funny”.

In the wake of Ireland’s 36-14 loss to France in the opening round of the Guinness Six Nations, the finger of blame was pointed at the former South Africa coach from some corners of the Irish media due to his focus on defence at Leinster, and the knock-on effect that has had on the skillset of the Irish players.

In response to these accusations, Trimble said that pundits and commentators are “scrambling around, trying to find someone to blame,” on the Rugby Rivals podcast this week.

Trimble was not only dismissive of these claims, but asserted that Ireland may have performed better at the Stade de France had they adopted Nienaber’s aggressive defensive set-up rather than the system Andy Farrell deployed, which shipped a concerning 35 missed tackles.

The 70-cap Ireland international did concede that the contrasting styles at Leinster and Ireland for the players in the squad may have caused “some confusion,” as Ireland will be searching for answers ahead of their round two clash with Italy on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium.

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Ireland

20 - 13

Full-time

Italy

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“It’s so funny, Irish pundits and commentators are scrambling around, trying to find someone to blame,” Trimble said. “If you’re not from Ulster, Jacob Stockdale gets the blame. If you’re from Munster, Sam Prendergast gets the blame. Some people are blaming Jacques Nienaber for Ireland at the weekend.

“It’s so funny. Whatever about the skillset and the catch-pass and everything like that, I suppose maybe disrupting that Irish defence and bringing in something that, I think, is formidable. I think South Africa have shown that if it’s implemented correctly, it’s the best defence in the world – breakdown pressure with line speed, make reads, it’s really difficult, it just strangles opposition.

“Leinster haven’t quite got there with it, but as a result, there’s a little bit of confusion going back and forth between the Irish camp and the Leinster camp, so many Leinster guys training one way and then playing differently in green. But I think we saw the worst version of it at the weekend. For me, if you just bring in the line speed, shooters, and create that chaos, that chaos plants the seed ‘do I throw this pass? Do I not throw this pass?’ The uncertainty around decision-making with that French attack.

“Garry Ringrose is probably the one guy who shoots up and makes decisions, he’s brave in defence. But he just got one or two reads wrong. He got beaten into that hole by that French attacker. It felt like they didn’t do either well. They didn’t no what they did in the past, that Irish defence, and they didn’t do the Leinster defence. Maybe there’s some confusion.”