Africa-Press – South-Africa. At Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said outgoing Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber would be the perfect fit for the currently unbeaten Irish super club.
Speaking after his team’s comeback United Rugby Championship 39-36 win against the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday, Cullen said Nienaber is a person he’s admired since his days at Munster and has the character required to operate seamlessly at the Dublin-based club.
SA Rugby released a statement saying that Nienaber will be leaving the Boks at the end of the World Cup in France early on Saturday afternoon.
READ | ‘The decision is made’: Nienaber to step down as Springbok coach after World Cup
Cullen said Nienaber’s achievements with the Springboks, especially in a pressured time in the Covid-19 era, were difficult to look past.
“We’ve been aware of Jacques through his time with Munster and his time with the Springboks,” Cullen said.
“He went on to win a World Cup, so we’ve always followed his and Felix Jones’s progress. Jacques is someone I’ve always admired.
“He’s a great coach and all the feedback I’ve heard about him has been outstanding and he’s a great man as well.
“The great-man part is the one that I’m attracted to the most because we have great characters in our group and he’s someone who has delivered at the highest level of the game.
“He’s a fantastic appointment for us at the club because of the experience he has, and we have a huge amount of respect for what he’s achieved with the Boks with the World Cup and the British & Irish Lions.”
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Nienaber, a trained physiotherapist who morphed into one of the best defensive brains in World Rugby, replaces former England coach Stuart Lancaster, who will be joining Racing 92 in France.
That Leinster chose to hunt down Nienaber despite him occupied one of the toughest, yet equally coveted jobs in world rugby speaks volumes of what they want out of him.
Cullen wasn’t even concerned about the fact Nienaber won’t be joining them at the start of the season because of the World Cup defence he needs to navigate with the Boks in France later this year.
“It’s not just about the culture part, it’s also about the off-field things an individual brings to the table,” Cullen said.
“We had Robin McBryde join us from Wales after the previous World Cup cycle, where he missed the early part of the season, but he joined in the early part of the season.
“We’ll have the same arrangement with Jacques and but what I’m attracted to the most is the character of the people.
“We now have three senior coaches in Robin, Andrew Goodman, and Jacques and we also had some time to plan and see what we’re really after.
“We targeted people who were coming off contract and the timing is perfect and it’s worth the wait with someone of Jacques’ calibre.”
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