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The Nienaber verdict on Jerry Flannery coaching Springboks' defence
Last week’s appointment of former Ireland international and Harlequins defence coach Jerry Flannery to the Springboks set-up has been given the seal of approval by former South Africa boss Jacques Nienaber.
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Flannery ostensibly replaces Nienaber, who was head coach but also headed up the Boks’ defence when they clinched back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles. Nienaber opted to take up a position as senior coach at Leinster and the world champions have moved swiftly to revise their management.
SA director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, who was head coach when they won the World Cup in 2019, will be head coach through to 2027 with South Africa looking to win an unprecedented third World Cup title in a row.
Erasmus last week appointed former Japan assistant coach Tony Brown, whom he coached at the Stormers, and Flannery to his coaching team. The Boks also lost Felix Jones, who has moved to the role of England defence coach.
Both Flannery and Jones were the assistant coaches to Erasmus and Nienaber during the duo’s stint at Munster before they returned home in 2018 to take up the Springboks coaching roles.
Speaking at a Leinster media briefing ahead of next Saturday’s URC game versus Benetton, Nienaber has now revealed that Flannery was at a Boks camp when they were last year preparing for the defence of their World Cup title in France.
“Obviously he would be very familiar with the way that Rassie would do stuff because it will be very similar to how we did things when we were at Munster. Jerry actually spent some time with us in the World Cup preparation. He was there a week or two with the Boks.
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“He understands how the environment operates and the players would know him. He won’t be unfamiliar to them. He actually helped us a little bit with the hookers. He added value with the lineout throws, him being an international hooker himself. Just adding things that he saw.”
Nienaber reckoned that the appointments of Flannery and Brown will serve the Springboks well, believing they will not only add value to the Springboks cause but they will also help take them to a new level. “It’s a good opportunity for Jerry and he will be good for the Boks. Both of those appointments, him and Tony Brown, are excellent appointments. They will add value to the team.”
Nienaber added that he had seen a lot of Flannery’s work as defence coach. “When we did our club visits of the abroad players, Harlequins was one of the clubs that we visited. They were always open to us being there, so watching their training sessions, gym sessions, being in their team meetings – I saw a lot of Jerry’s work as a defence coach there and he will be a good fit for South Africa.”
Nienaber, meanwhile, described Ireland’s performance in keeping Italy scoreless in their Guinness Six Nations game last Sunday as beautiful. “I thought it was beautiful. I texted the lads afterwards; I just said that zero does look beautiful,” he said.
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“For any defence coach it’s a thing of beauty, but obviously the pressure you put on from an attacking point of view creates that. If you have scoreboard pressure like Ireland had, they [Italy] have to take more risks and from deeper, which probably puts you in a better position. So it is always a thing of beauty, a zero.”
Comments on RugbyPass
wel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
4 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
4 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
4 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments