Former England fly-half Stuart Barnes has raised serious questions over whether the direction Leinster are heading in under Jacques Nienaber is the correct one.
The two-time Rugby World Cup winner joined the Irish province following South Africa’s success in the global tournament in France.
Since then, Nienaber has looked to implement a Springboks-like defence and this season it has been particularly resolute.
However, some are concerned that it has come at the expense of the Irish province’s attack, which was so potent under previous senior coach Stuart Lancaster.
Leo Cullen’s side are certainly more conservative with ball hand, but the hope is that the new approach will pay dividends and end their Champions Cup drought.
Leinster are unbeaten in 2024/25 so far and, providing they beat Bath next weekend, appear well set to make another deep run in the competition.
Silverware is key
Silverware will ultimately decide whether Nienaber’s influence has been a success, though, and Barnes believes that they could one again fall short in the latter stages.
“I wonder that, come the biggest games, whether it will be the undoing of Leinster as it was in [last year’s] final,” he told Off The Ball.
“Toulouse are taking their game on, not by getting tighter, bigger and more safe, they’re doing different things.
“They’ve got arguably the best player I’ve seen in 50 years in [Antoine] Dupont, so that helps, but they’re changing their game.”
Barnes compared South Africa in 2023 and 2024, with the latter deciding to take a more expansive approach after hiring New Zealander Tony Brown as their attack coach.
The ex-England and Bath playmaker says the Springboks are evolving and suggests that Nienaber’s approach could well be outdated now.
“We’ve been talking about Nienaber and South Africa. I would say that Leinster at times have looked like the 2023 World Cup-winning South Africa, [but] they do not look like the 2024 South Africa, who have been liberated by the way they’ve used Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin Kolbe, and any choice of full-backs,” Barnes said.
“They’ve changed their game by breaking up the field. They’ve got this amazing power, they play their ‘Bomb Squad’ as per normal, but the way they shape their game when that ball is on the pitch, boy it’s very different.
“I think something Leinster have got to find is that freedom. I thought back to Jordan Larmour when he was a kid and he used to just come up with the most extraordinary things, coming from the most extraordinary angles.”
Nienaber’s Leinster easier to work out
At their best under Lancaster, Leinster appeared impossible to stop, but Barnes does not believe that is the case for the province now that their approach has been altered.
“I always felt last season [under Nienaber] you could work out a way [to beat them]. It was a hard thing to do because Leinster have so many good players, but you could watch them play and work out a game plan to nullify them,” he added.
“You can’t do that [with South Africa], and I think this is what Rassie Erasmus has worked out, when you’ve got Cheslin Kolbe getting lots of ball.
“Leinster need to add fluidity to their game and at the moment I still see them as a very, very powerful team but I wouldn’t take them to beat Toulouse.
“Last year I couldn’t see them beating Toulouse because I didn’t think they would come up with a big play when it matters.
“It could be really close but rugby’s a game now that has got tight. Nienaber has to say: ‘If we’re going to be like South Africa, we’ve got to be like post-2023 South Africa, not pre-2023 South Africa’.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/stuart-barnes-claims-jacques-nienabers-springboks-esque-approach-could-be-leinsters-undoing
