‘Brilliant’ Nienaber key to Bok success

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Rassie Erasmus has praised former army buddy Jacques Nienaber for the role he’s played in reviving the Springbok brand over the past 18 months. JON CARDINELLI in Tokyo reports.

On Thursday, Erasmus – who replaced Allister Coetzee as head coach at the start of the 2018 season – took a moment to remind everyone at a packed media conference in downtown Shinjuku about how far the Boks have come since the dark days of 2016 and 2017.

‘We’ve been under pressure to redeem ourselves over the past few years,’ he said. ‘Back in 2016 and 2017 almost every team that we played gave us a hiding. We lost by record scores to New Zealand and Ireland. We lost to Italy. As a result, a lot of people lost faith in us.

ALSO READ: Erasmus laments Kolbe’s absence

‘When we came together in early 2018, we were trying to get that respect back. We wanted people to believe in us again. That was the pressure that was on us at that point.

‘Now we’re at the stage where we want to become No 1 in the world again,’ the Bok coach said in reference to the upcoming World Cup semi-final and the possibility of featuring in a final. ‘Now there is the pressure of expectation. We’re nervous but we’re helluva excited.’

There’s been a lot of talk about who will succeed Erasmus as head coach at the end of the tournament when he opts to focus on his director of rugby role. Erasmus didn’t give anything away on Thursday, but suggested that a new man would be in the hot seat next year and when the Boks host the British & Irish Lions in 2021.

There was a symbolic moment thereafter when Erasmus was replaced at the top table by assistant coach and defence specialist Jacques Nienaber. The two men have been friends since their military conscription days in the early 1990s. They developed a strong working relationship in the ensuing years, with the physiotherapist-turned-defence coach serving as Erasmus’ right-hand man at the Free State Cheetahs, the Stormers, Munster and eventually the Boks.

Nienaber may be the man to succeed Erasmus in the coming months. There’s been a big shift in terms of how the Boks have played over the past two seasons and the results – a Rugby Championship title and a place in the World Cup semi-finals – certainly vindicate their methods and strategies.

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While Erasmus deserves much of the credit for masterminding the South African rugby revival, it’s fair to say that Nienaber’s input in various departments has enabled the Boks to regain their edge.

‘I became a coach as soon as I stopped playing,’ said Erasmus. ‘I brought Jacques in as a conditioning coach right away. His passion, knowledge and work ethic around defence was evident even back then.

‘He’s very good with people and in terms of communicating what he wants. He gets the message across brilliantly.’

The Boks have evolved to the point where they are one of the best defensive teams on the planet. Gone are the days when they leaked 57 points at home and away to the All Blacks, or 38 points to Ireland in Dublin.

South Africa beat the All Blacks via a titanic defensive display in Wellington last year. Their successes in the 2019 Rugby Championship and in the current World Cup have been rooted in the ever-improving defensive system. The Boks have conceded only three tries over the past five games.

‘I still see myself as a physio,’ Nienaber said when he asked about his unconventional pathway to coaching. ‘I’m still qualified. My wife is also a physio and we still have practices.

‘There weren’t many professional defence coaches when I first transitioned from being a full-time physio to being more involved on defence. [Current Wales defence coach] Shaun Edwards may have been professional in the early 2000s. Les Kiss came from rugby league. There weren’t many, though, and so it was easier to make the transition for me back then.’

Nienaber admits that he and Erasmus have formed a special bond over the years. They don’t always see eye to eye on certain issues, though.

‘You get fairly tight when you are together at the army,’ he said. ‘Rassie stayed a bit longer at the army after I left for university. He was a very good tactician back then, and you can see how that has come through in his coaching.

‘We met up again when I was a physio and he was the rugby captain at the University of the Free State. We found that we worked well together.

‘Sometimes we disagree about rugby matters,’ Nienaber said with a chuckle. ‘We may get angry with one another but it’s never personal, it’s all about making the team better. We can be friends on the one hand, and we can have a good working relationship on the other.’

ALSO READ: Kolbe injury piles pressure on back three

Photo: Steve Haag Sports via Hollywoodbets

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Jon Cardinelli