Jacques Nienaber is set to bring a key element of the Springbok setup to Leinster, allowing senior players to sit in the coaching box during games.
The tactic has proved successful for the Springboks, most notably with Duane Vermeulen watching from the box during the 2023 World Cup pool clash against Ireland, and Siya Kolisi doing the same in the 2024 Rugby Championship match against Argentina in Santiago del Estero.
At Leinster, current captain Caelan Doris was the first to experience this approach, joining the coaches in the box during their win over the Dragons last Friday.
Nienaber, who has been quick to integrate elements of the Bok blueprint into his new role at the Irish club, sees this as a way to broaden player perspectives and strengthen the leadership group.
“I love it,” Nienaber said of having players involved in the coaches box.
“I think it’s good for him. He was the first one but we would probably like to have more players with us, it just gives them a different idea of how we see the game and how tense we are.
“Sometimes it looks perfect up there but it’s nervous and you’re trying to find solutions. Sometimes you disagree and sometimes you agree and so I think it’s just good for a player to have that transparency, to see how it operates. It’s not calm.
“There’s certain things that he must look at so he’s not just sitting there to fill a seat, it’s not for show,” the two-time World Cup-winning coach added.
“Listen, you’ve got to contribute. ‘Your role is you’ve got to look at this’. And we want feedback on it. There was a tactical thing that we wanted to change at half-time and we asked for his feedback.
“Obviously as a player you get a certain sense of where the game is going, but up there you see it a lot different, a little bit more from our view, and it’s great to get his view. He probably understands what the lads are feeling on the pitch. So his feeling was brilliant, obviously.”
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