Jacques Nienaber has had a negative impact on this Leinster side since arriving in 2023, according to ex-Ireland head coach Eddie O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n
The 53-year-old joined the Irish province as their senior coach after the Springboks\u2019 2023 Rugby World Cup success following the departure of Stuart Lancaster earlier in the year.<\/p>\n
Lancaster was renowned for his ability to coach the attack, with the Dublin-based outfit a free-flowing side under the Englishman, but it did not yield any trophies.<\/p>\n
They therefore hoped that the arrival Nienaber<\/a>, who is regarded as one of best defensive minds around, could help them take that next step.<\/p>\n Although they claimed the United Rugby Championship title in 2025, that Investec Champions Cup<\/a> title still eludes them having succumbed in the final in 2024 and then the semi-final a year later.<\/p>\n The concern for the supporters is that there doesn\u2019t appear to have been any improvement so far this season with Leinster<\/a>, if anything, taking a backwards step.<\/p>\n Defence can be \u2018catastrophic\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think Leinster\u2019s current form is any indication they\u2019re going to win the European Cup, I think [head coach] Leo [Cullen] knows that,\u201d he told the Indo Sport<\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think Leinster are playing great rugby and there are two dimensions to it. I keep going back to Nienaber, he\u2019s really the head coach, he\u2019s the guy calling all the rugby shots.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have built their house on defence and the defence has worked really well on occasions but, when it\u2019s malfunctioned, it\u2019s been catastrophic, as we saw against Northampton last year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe second part of it is even in the recent interpros, had Munster and Ulster been a little smarter, they could have unpicked that Leinster defence.<\/p>\n \u201cThat Leinster defence is very breachable if you play the right move at the right time and I\u2019m surprised other teams haven\u2019t figured it out sooner.<\/p>\n \u201cMunster had them a couple of times and they shut it down. Had Munster got those away and scored, they could have beaten Leinster.<\/p>\n \u201cThat defence is very all or nothing and the problem is if you\u2019re in the last-four of the European Cup and you meet a good team\u2026 you might come unstuck.\u201d<\/p>\n Bernard Jackman: Why \u2018concerning\u2019 Leinster issue will leave Andy Farrell \u2018worried\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n O\u2019Sullivan explained why he feels Leinster\u2019s rearguard can be exposed, particularly when they face some of the best teams in Europe and South Africa.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s extreme blitz and it\u2019s very narrow. They do a really good job in slowing the ruck so they got on the offside line and they launch like mad dogs in a meathouse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut a couple of times against Munster, Ciaran Frawley was the full-back and he stopped the football with a tackle, and outside Frawley there was two players in 20 or 30 metres of space. That ball gets out of there, it\u2019s over, it\u2019s a two-on-one run-in.<\/p>\n \u201cMunster threw the spot pass one channel too far in. You throw that spot pass one channel further out and that opens it up.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are teams almost breaking them and if they\u2019re a little bit smarter, they would probably get them a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n Leinster\u2019s other issues<\/p>\n It is not just the defence O\u2019Sullivan is concerned about having seen Leinster, especially this season, struggle for fluency with ball in hand.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other side of this is that their attack has gone backwards under Nienaber, it\u2019s become incredibly attritional. It\u2019s become primarily one-off runners,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cOccasionally they go to the edges, they do a nice reload and there\u2019s a couple of spots out the back, but by and large they\u2019re trying to batter teams into submission.<\/p>\n