IT’S OFTEN SAID that Jacques Nienaber operates in Rassie Erasmus’ shadow but there’s not many coaches out there who would manage to steal the limelight from South Africa’s larger than life, opinion-splitting Director of Rugby.
Erasmus is a magnetic character and one of the most prominent personalities in the sport. Nienaber, on the other hand, is the more understated presence of the world-conquering coaching duo.
This week the pair have their sights firmly locked on Saturday’s massive World Cup clash with Ireland in Paris but these are interesting times for the Springboks’ dynamic duo. When the tournament ends next month, the two coaches will part ways in their professional lives, having worked closely together on a near constant basis since the early 2000s, with Nienaber set to join Leinster as the province’s new senior coach.
It’s the latest fascinating move for a man who in another life, might never have stepped into the coaching box.
Nienaber first met Erasmus when the pair were in the army, but it was at Super Rugby side The Cats (now the Lions) where they grew close. Erasmus was the captain, Nienaber the physio, and during their long conversations the pair realised they shared similar views on the game. When Erasmus subsequently became coach of the Free State Cheetahs, he hired Nienaber as his conditioning coach. That season, the Cheetahs won the Currie Cup for only the second time in their history.
The two have been virtually inseparable ever since, and during their time at the Stormers, Munster and South Africa, Nienaber’s growing influence has resulted in his remit evolving from assistant coach to defence coach, and then head coach once Erasmus became South Africa’s Director of Rugby.
And while Erasmus is still viewed as the brains of the operation, overseeing the Springboks’ general plan and strategy, Nienaber has become an increasingly prominent voice.
Jaco Taute has had a front-row seat to watch Nienaber’s growth as a coach. The former South Africa international first worked with Nienaber at the Stormers before they were reacquainted at Munster in 2016.
“I knew from playing against the Stormers that he was a brilliant defense coach, so I was quite excited to work with him,” Taute explains.
“I was just very impressed by him. A very nice guy, very professional. Quite tough, but in a good way.”
When players speak about Nienaber’s attributes as a coach, two qualities that tend to come up are the technical detail his gives to his players, and the clarity with which he gets those messages across.
“When he speaks you listen,” Taute continues. “He conveys his messages really easily and quickly. What you see is what you get, but you’re never in doubt about what message he’s trying to convey or what he needs or wants from you on the field.”
Those ideas took some time to implement when Nienaber joined Erasmus at Munster in 2016, the same season Taute arrived at Thomond Park, where the two South African coaches were in the early stages of introducing a defensive system based on ferociously aggressive linespeed.
“Coming from South Africa, the impact he had on the Irish players (at Munster) in terms of a bit of, I wouldn’t necessarily say South African culture, but his unique way of doing things and just adding that extra layer on to Munster that time and the Irish players paid off very well.
“It’s not the easiest system to implement. At the start at Munster, it was tough to change the way of thinking in terms getting used to a system like that, but it’s all interlinked because he’s so good at making it simple that it gets easier and easier to follow the system.
“That’s the most important thing. Technically he’s brilliant, so you know when you have to be in certain positions on the field, and that gives players confidence because they feel comfortable within his system.
“And actually, the system is quite simple. He just wants you to give your best. I know that sounds very cliché, but that culture he builds, it’s just to give your best and hardest effort for the time you’re on the field.
“That makes it quite easy as a player because yes, there’s a lot of technical points and a lot of detail that goes into the games, but when it comes down to it, he just wants you to absolutely give your best and represent yourself the best you can.
That’s why I feel players flourish under him, and almost play with a lot of weight off their shoulders because you know it’s about just giving your best and absolutely committing to the cause.
“That’s why culturally, he so good. He knows how to get players to gel and defend well together and really get close (as a group).”
In this area, Nienaber’s background as a physio comes in handy.
“He wants you to really impose yourself in terms of physicality and dominance, and because he was a physiotherapist for a long time and he’s very good at the strength and conditioning side of things, he understands the athletes as well. You can’t implement something when your players aren’t capable of doing it, so his expertise in knowing how to condition the players to play in such a way is very impressive.
“So you train very hard under Jacques. His sessions are very well organised. It’s all done to the point and you know exactly what we want to achieve out of this training session.
And you just train. There’s no mucking about. With Jacques, you train to perform.”
Nienaber himself reflected on his time at Munster during South Africa’s pre-match press conference on Thursday.
“I actually learned a lot in Ireland,” Nienaber said, “and that’s the beauty of moving or putting yourself in a different environment, because the way you do things in South Africa won’t necessarily work at a club like Munster because you have players with different skill-sets, different attributes, different abilities, and you have to adapt the way you do things to suit them.
“You can’t just take a plan and copy and paste it (with a different team).
“And for them as well, they probably learned the way we do things in South Africa, which is different to how other coaches will do things in Ireland. The interweaving of working in different environments was a good thing for me.”
Nienaber runs the show on the training pitch, but the overall plan is very much the work of Erasmus.
“They just work so good together in terms of knowing how to complement each other. They’ve both got brilliant rugby brains. Even when they see things differently, they chat about it and then they’ll (come to) the same idea. It’s incredible to actually see it.”
This week the two men have thrust themselves into the spotlight again with their intriguing decision to opt for a 7/1 split on the bench this weekend. It’s just one more fascinating aspect of a fixture that will see the Boks double down on their power game, while Ireland back their high-energy attack.
“The matchup in the forwards is going to be vital,” Taute adds.
“But the teams that best implements the way they play is going to win the game. So if Ireland can unlock South Africa’s defence, they’ll probably score a few tries, but I also feel there is a different dimension to South Africa with this World Cup.
“It’s hard playing against South Africa because you don’t really know how they are going to play. I know they’re still a kicking team and have a very strong setpiece, but they’ve got an element of surprise about them this year as well. It’s going to be one hell of a Test match.”
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