Former Ireland and British & Irish Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald believes that the Springboks are ‘dodgy selectors’ and claims Leinster paid the price for that in the Investec Champions Cup.
Following the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the Dublin-based outfit were boosted by the arrival of ex-Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber.
He, along with Rassie Erasmus, guided the Boks to the title in France as they became world champions for a record fourth time.
Nienaber has since altered Leinster’s defensive system and brought in other nuances which were synonymous with South African rugby.
That includes creating a bench with players who could make big impacts towards the end of matches.
Nienaber influence
Although head honcho Leo Cullen appears to be the main selector at Leinster, there is no doubt in Fitzgerald’s eyes that he has been influenced by Nienaber and the Springboks.
“This, to my mind, is the South African mindset. You guys know well what I think about these selections; I think this is the biggest load of crap,” he told The Left Wing podcast.
“Their selection crap nearly cost them the World Cup with by far the best team in the World Cup in France.
“They would argue, ‘we beat everyone on the way there’, but you beat people by a point with the best team. And then the stuff with [Handre] Pollard as well.
“They’re dodgy selectors, lads, they’re overthinking things way too much.”
The biggest call saw Cullen put the All Blacks’ starting inside centre Jordie Barrett among the replacements with him only appearing 10 minutes into the second period against Northampton Saints.
Leinster also chose Max Deegan over current Ireland back-row star Jack Conan for the Champions Cup semi-final clash while Cian Healy got in ahead of Andrew Porter at loosehead.
“Set out your stall at the start of the game, rugby is not that complicated. Dominate the other team physically, or even get an edge, and you’re halfway there to winning the game – that’s it,” ex-Leinster back Fitzgerald said.
“Picking Conan is for me a no-brainer. Northampton would have come into this game having doubts. No matter what everyone says in hindsight, that they believed they could win the game, they believe it when you give them an opportunity.
“Leinster are way too good for that. Blow them away at the start of the game, just physically dominate them. Stick it up the jumper, put in an extra guy at ruck time if you need to.
“Leinster’s biggest advantage over this Northampton team was the bench, so blow them away at the start of the game. That doesn’t mean you hold until the second part of the game; it means that you blow them away from the start. Take their belief away.
“It was really frustrating to watch. I promised when I came on that I wouldn’t get too emotional, but I feel the anger coming up now – that really annoyed me when watching the game.
“I was like, ‘pick your best guys, blow them away at the start of the game and then bring on the cavalry with 30 minutes to go’.”
Nienaber’s defence
There are potentially other factors which contributed to the defeat, with the Nienaber-designed defence being one of them after it was ripped apart by the Saints.
Fitzgerald believes that the system does not suit Leinster, although he blamed the players for the sheer number of missed tackles.
“I don’t love Nienaber’s system, I’m on record for saying that. I love it for South Africa, I don’t love it for Leinster, but that’s not his fault, guys are missing those tackles.
“That was the undoing of this Leinster team. The selections I don’t agree with, but I still think Leinster had enough to win that game.
“The coaches are not without fault in this, but I wouldn’t be calling for anyone’s head. They need to figure out how to get over the line.
“They thought it was going to be Nienaber, they thought it was going to be Barrett, who they didn’t select, which was very unusual. But I think the game management is something they really have to go back and have a think about.”
READ MORE: Jacques Nienaber living with ‘consequences’ of controversial decisions amid vehement backlash
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/ex-ireland-star-claims-springboks-are-dodgy-selectors-as-leinster-pay-price-for-jacques-nienaber-mindset
