Jacques Nienaber is a defensive obsessive who turns pressure into suffocation and systems into silverware. He is a World Cup gold medal winner with the Springboks and if any coach in world rugby can mastermind stifling Bordeaux’s brilliant attack, then it is the South African who on Saturday wears Leinster blue.
If Leinster win the Investec Champions Cup final it will be among Nienaber’s finest rugby achievements because this one has required him to evolve, adapt and convince.
South Africans know the Nienaber blueprint.
We watched it with the Springboks: Suffocate space. Win collisions. Defend like
