WITH WORLD CUP-winning coach Jacques Nienaber seemingly on the brink of finally joining the set-up, Robin McBryde is bracing himself for an ‘exciting period’ in Leinster Rugby.
While Nienaber has taken an extended break in between jobs – and won’t be involved for this Saturday’s URC clash with Scarlets at the RDS – McBryde revealed yesterday that Leinster’s new senior coach will more than likely have linked up with the province ahead of their encounter against arch rivals Munster in the Aviva Stadium on 25 November.
It remains to be seen how active a role the South African might play in preparing his current employers for a battle with his former ones – if he has arrived at their base by then – but McBryde is eager to see what he can bring to the table.
“I think he is going to arrive in the Munster week,” he said at a Leinster media briefing on Tuesday.
“I think it will be gradual from the outset and, in fairness, allowing him to get his feet under the table and see how things work etc. Obviously he is familiar with Irish rugby having had the experience with Munster. He is a little bit further down the road than other coaches would be.
“I like the [7/1] split he has got on the bench, the number of forwards he has got on there. There is going to be interesting discussions over the table, over styles of play, as well. Obviously the kicking game is going to be huge.
“Even down to the different training weeks, how they are structured, the content, the length of sessions, the length of meetings. There are a lot of things to be discussed really, so it is just a very exciting period and a very exciting place to be from a coach’s point of view. Expecting Jacques to be coming in and adding his bits to what’s already going on here.”
- Transition -
Given the weekend tussle against Scarlets will be their fifth game of the campaign (and it was preceded by a lengthy pre-season), Leinster head coach Leo Cullen may need to strike a balance between the building blocks that have already been put in place and whatever stamp Nienaber might be looking to put on the province – particularly from a defensive perspective.
Even though he has had a line of communication with some members of Leinster’s coaching staff, McBryde acknowledged it may take some time before his coaching philosophy is seen in full evidence.
“I haven’t had contact with him. Leo has had a fair bit of contact with him, Sean O’Brien also from a defensive point of view.
“There are certain messages and certain words, certain language that has been passed over. He’s got that time to play with. He’s been dipping in and out of matches [remotely].
“It will be something that we’ve just got to manage. We’ll be another couple of games into the season when he does arrive with Europe on the horizon, so how much you can change in that period of time is going to be a balancing act really.”
- Big guns -
Having welcomed the quintet of Jimmy O’Brien, Ross Byrne, Dan Sheehan, Joe McCarthy and Ryan Baird back into the fold for their 33-10 victory away to Dragons last Sunday, it is anticipated that more of Ireland’s World Cup squad will return to provincial duty in the RDS on Saturday.
Interprovincial bouts with Munster and Connacht – as well as back-to-back Champions Cup showdowns against La Rochelle and Sale Sharks – will follow the Scarlets game, and McBryde admitted it is important for the international contingent to get back up to speed.
“We’ve got those interpro games coming and they’ve had a good chunk of time off now, so it’s about them getting their appetite back and taking a leaf out of Dan Sheehan’s book.
“I thought he was excellent on the weekend. I thought he spoke well in today’s meeting as well. His performance on the weekend was outstanding,” McBryde added.