LONG READ Could Jacques Nienaber be linked with Ireland job after exerting Bok influence on Leinster?

Bernard Jackman ruffled some feathers with a recent comment about Leinster that was meant as the highest possible compliment. Speaking on RTÉ’s rugby podcast, the former Leinster and Ireland hooker quipped that Jacques Nienaber had ‘turned south county Dublin players into proper psychos’. While a couple of Leinster fans pointed out that the province relied on more than a Dublin nucleus of players, others took issue with the fruity term ‘psychos’.

To Jackman, though, it is entirely apt. He is well placed to comment on Leinster’s recent escalation in brute-force and scoreboard stinginess. Jackman was part of a Leinster pack, just over 15 years ago, that shed the ‘soft’ tag and conceded two knock-out stage tries on their way to Heineken Cup nirvana.

Leinster’s first taste of European Cup glory was built off the back of a mean, mean defence. The province, captained by Leo Cullen, allowed just 97 points in their nine matches, on the way to cup final victory over Leicester, at Murrayfield.

Cullen, now head coach at Leinster, led his side to four Champions Cup finals between 2018 and 2023. He only finished on the winning side on one occasion, however. Leinster replaced Stuart Lancaster with Jacques Nienaber as senior coach but ended last season with the same teeth-kicking result – a losing final (this time against Toulouse).

Nienaber had Leinster for his first pre-season, last summer, having missed out on that opportunity in 2023 when he was guiding South Africa to back-to-back World Cups. Speaking at an open training session in Wexford, last August, Nienaber set out his goal for the season ahead.

“Were we awesome? We weren’t the best in the northern hemisphere, by a long shot. I think we were within the top three or four defensive teams in the URC, and Europe, but we’re not at the top yet. There’s still growth for us, in that department.”

And so, Leinster have grown. We are only now reaching the meaty part of the season but Leinster are not far off that class of 2008/09. They have won 11 straight games and conceded only 130 points in the process. They have shipped only 18 tries against, at an average of just over 1.6 per game. All the while, they have maintained their ‘points for’ average from last season – 31.

Naturally, with Nienaber’s defensive strategy taking hold and RG Snyman added to the forward ranks, it has led to claims that Leinster are now Boks in blue.

Tyler Bleyendaal took over from Ireland-bound Andrew Goodman, at Leinster, last summer and has been tasked with overseeing their attack. That job, of course, is made easier when your team’s defence is making big plays and sapping the opposition through sheer, punishing attrition. “It requires a lot of putting your heads in dark places and really expending energy,” Bleyendaal explains. “It’s putting in that maximum effort. We see a lot of the tackles and turnovers, around the ball, but for that to happen, there is a huge amount of work going on, off the ball. There is a collective buy-in to get those results. Yeah, we make errors but we’re working really hard to fix them, in the moment, and we’re getting some really good outcomes with our defence. That, in turn, brings a lot of energy to the group.”

Leinster are also kicking away possession more often (28 times per URC game) and ball-in-play time has dropped appreciably. Naturally, with Nienaber’s defensive strategy taking hold and RG Snyman added to the forward ranks, it has led to claims that Leinster are now Boks in blue. It is hard to deny when Andrew Porter, Leinster’s best loosehead, was subbed on against Munster after only 23 minutes in what Cullen later told reporters was a pre-planned switch. It is harder to deny, when it comes to a defence that looks to be positively relishing dog-fights inside both 22s.

“There’s an edge to them,” explained Jackman. “It’s not just the lads in single digit jerseys. It’s everyone. They want to win every single battle and there’s a love for doing it… it’s like the boa constrictor – they just wrap themselves around you, and suffocate you.”

Jackman notes how the likes of Jordan Larmour, Jimmy O’Brien and other backs are now flinging themselves into tackles and hitting rucks with greater zest. They are buying into Nienaber’s philosophy. Stories from the Leinster camp are similar to what you would hear from Munster players, back when Nienaber was forwards coach at the province, under Rassie Erasmus.

“I remember that first week at Munster, after Jacques came over,” former Munster player Greg O’Shea once recalled. “He brought everyone for a rucking session and brought everyone in a huddle before the first drill.”

I think we’re really starting to see the benefits of Jacques now that we’ve gotten more used to him. We’re starting to see the fruits of all that work he has put in.

Joe McCarthy

Nienaber asked the players to visualise their nearest and dearest in harm’s way, over the far side of the ruck. He demanded to know what each player would do to get past the men standing in their way. “That’s the mind-set you have to have,” Nienaber told the Munster players. “You have to do everything you can to get to the other side of that ruck.”

Joe McCarthy had already been identified as a defensive enforcer for Leinster before Nienaber arrived. He is revelling in his side upping the ante. “Rugby is one of those games where you just have to be physical,” the Leinster lock says. “It is often talked about that you can have a great gameplan but if you have no physicality there, it’s not really going to work. You notice that in the big European games, knock-out matches and internationals when it comes more to the fore. It is something you really have to bring.”

“We have definitely built upon Jacques’ system that he brought in, last season,” adds McCarthy, “and we seem more comfortable with it. Things like that take time, but I think we’re really starting to see the benefits of Jacques now that we’ve gotten more used to him. We’re starting to see the fruits of all that work he has put in. He’s such a diligent coach and is great to work with.”

An added element to this weekend’s clash at Stade Marcel Deflandre is Nienaber pitting himself against Ronan O’Gara. Last season, Leinster headed to the West of France and ground out an impressively gritty 16-9 pool stage victory. In the return match, at the quarter final stage, Leinster pumped the reigning champs 40-13.

“These are the best games to play in,” McCarthy declares. “La Rochelle have one of the biggest packs in Europe though, in fairness, our own pack is pretty big, these days. I absolutely love that. The physicality, the edge. Challenging yourself and seeing where you’re at against the best. It’ll come down to the set-piece and how you front-up, physically.”

Ahead of the game, Irish sports show Off The Ball was teeing Saturday’s game up as a potential audition for Andy Farrell’s eventual replacement as Ireland head coach. “I’m sure if he was available, and if Andy Farrell was stepping down,” mused former Ireland flanker Alan Quinlan, “of course Jaques would come into the conversation… I think Ireland is ultimately where Ronan O’Gara will end up.”

Another sub-plot for European rugby’s best drama of the decade, so far.