Jacques Nienaber has drawn on his experiences with the Springboks to help plot a victory for Leinster against La Rochelle in the Champions Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
Defending champions La Rochelle and Irish giants Leinster clash at the Aviva Stadium in a repeat of last season’s final of the European cup competition.
Despite Leinster’s prior victory in the pool stage, the title-holders, under the stewardship of Ireland icon Ronan O’Gara, proved their mettle to come from behind and beat the DHL Stormers in the round of 16 in Cape Town.
A two-time Webb Ellis Cup winner with South Africa, Nienaber joined Leinster as senior coach in November, and has wasted little time sharing his expertise.
He is renowned for his defensive work at the Boks, Stormers and Munster, yet speaking in the buildup to this week’s duel in Dublin, the 51-year-old stressed the importance of precision and intensity, drawing parallels from his World Cup triumphs.
MORE: Manie still the man for clutch moments
“I would say the secret of any knockout game is you’ve got to be accurate in what you do, it’s accuracy that gets you across the line,” Nienaber said.
“You’ve got to be accurate, you’ve got to have intent, you’ve got to have energy and you need to be physical, and you need to be aligned and accurate in your plan.
“If you look at it individually, you have to be physical, you have to have a work ethic. You have to make sure on the day that the individual brings that to that party.
“Then from a team perspective you have to make sure that you’re aligned, we’ve got to know what we’ve got to do in attack and defence and then on the day you have to be accurate.”
“And then sometimes when both teams bring that and there’s parity, then you need a little bit of luck sometimes,” he added.
“At the end of the day what’s the difference between the two games? It’s one kick at the end, so sometimes you bring intensity, aggression and a great plan and they bring the same, and then you need luck.”
Photo: @leinsterrugby/Twitter
The post Nienaber: Leinster need a bit of luck appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
