Jacques Nienaber happy at Leinster — for now

Jacques Nienaber has firmly dismissed any suggestion of returning to the Springbok coaching setup, following his departure to Leinster after leading South Africa to their second consecutive World Cup title in 2023.

Nienaber, who now serves as Leinster’s senior coach, made it clear that he has no intention of going back to the demands of Test rugby, preferring the more creative aspects of club rugby.

In an interview with the Irish Times, Nienaber said that he intends to stay in the club system, having signed a contract with Leinster that runs until 2026.

‘I don’t want to go back there’

“I must choose my words now nicely,” Nienaber told the Irish Times. “Let me start by saying that international rugby isn’t as creative as club rugby, because you don’t work as long with them. You only get them in a week before a Test match.

“I do miss it in the one sense, but if you ask me ‘do you want to go back there now?’ No, I don’t want to go back there.

“I like the development that I’m currently, as a coach, experiencing and the stimulus that I’m getting currently at club level. That’s why I wanted to leave international rugby from a coach point of view, to just get exposure again at club level, because it’s different.

“Teams have a crack at you every week, where at international level you will play … when we left in 2018, we didn’t play against Ireland until 2022. So, your defence never gets tested by an Irish attack, where here you get tested weekly, which is great.”

This story first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission. For the original story click here.