Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber has been lauded for performing a “lobotomy” on the Irish side after they racked up back-to-back nillings in the Champions Cup.

A 62-0 triumph over Harlequins in the round of 16 was followed by a 52-0 hammering of Glasgow Warriors in the quarter-finals as the Irish outfit marched to the last-four.

Leinster will now take on Northampton in the semi-final stage on May 3, and victory over the Premiership side would set up a final clash with either Bordeaux or Toulouse.

Superb knockout form

There’s little doubt that Leinster are the form side remaining in the Champions Cup and Irish journalist Gerry Thornley has hailed Nienaber for how they are defending.

“I’d say Nienaber’s dreaming about going through the entire knockout phase without conceding a single point, doing the same again the semi final,” he told Off the Ball.

“At that point he could just name his price and join any club in the world, couldn’t he?”

Thornley was asked by the host whether Leinster could make it three nillings in a row when they face Saints at the Aviva Stadium and if that is a possibility for them.

“Well, it is,” he declared. “I think that they were damned with faint praise a week previously when they won 62-0 against Harlequins and there was too much focus on how bad Harlequins were and not enough on how good Leinster were.

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“To do it again a week later, 52-0, to be even more ruthless in the first half when the match should have been in the balance, against an even more potent side in Glasgow whose attacking metrics are outstanding. They’re the best attacking team in the URC and were the best attacking team in the Champions Cup up until last Friday and were zeroed.”

To which Thornley was pressed on how Leinster managed to nil the current United Rugby Championship holders, and he reckons a poor start ultimately put cost them dear.

“A bit like Munster they fell behind early and also Leinster were ruthlessly clinical,” he said.

“I still think you’ve got to give Leinster credit for the extraordinary hunger and desire (they showed).

“They’ve had a complete mental shift. A lobotomy almost since Nienaber has come in. They are now a defence-focused team first and foremost and it’s re-energised them.”

Re-energised players

Initially, Nienaber’s arrival at Leinster appeared to hurt their attacking game, but they look to have now settled into the new system and are deadly on both sides of the ball.

“It came with lots of caveats and debates around whether Leinster’s DNA has been sacrificed and with it even Ireland’s attacking game has been sacrificed,” Thornley added. “But I’ll tell you what, the last two wins reflect very well on Leo Cullen, Tyler Bleyendaal, Jacques Nienabar, Sean O’Brien and all the coaching staff in there that so many frontline Irish players look so re-energised and refocussed.”

Furthermore, the journalist believes that the stunning form of Leinster, who are awash with Ireland internationals, is not a great reflection on the coaching team at Test level.

“Look at Josh van der Flier’s performance the last two weeks compared to how he signed off the Six Nations,” he said. “It doesn’t actually reflect very well on the Irish Six Nations camp how refreshed people look.”

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/jacques-nienaber-could-just-name-his-price-as-ex-springboks-coach-hailed-for-leinster-lobotomy