MUNSTER Rugby have a new defence coach. His name is Jacques Nienaber. The physio, turned S&C coached, turned professional defence coach has come to Munster to work under Director Of Rugby Rassis Erasmus. The energetic, stock broking coach, spoke this week to PostSport and below are his thoughts on rugby, Limerick and of course, the weather.
How have you settled in Jacques?
I have settled in good. The community has been fantastic. My son is playing cricket here. He played back in South Africa and is now playing with Limerick Cricket Club. He played with the senior team the other day. He is 13 and his oldest teammate was 52. The people are so accepting and accommodating here. From the cricket club straight through to Munster, or neighbours, everyone has been positive and helpful and that has been a huge help to us.
Did it take you long to decide to move to Munster?
In January, if you had told me that I would be in Limerick in July, I would not have even thought about that. I’m a physio and my wife is also a physio and we always wanted to work abroad and experience different countries and cultures. After I finshed my studies, I went straight into Super Rugby, so I never got to experience any of that. In the beginning of the year, myself and my wife had a chat and she said that we might never go abroad. Coaching was always an option and when Allister Coetzee asked me to be part of his team up until the next Rugby World Cup in Japan, my wife told me that if I took that, we would probably never move as a family. My son is 13 and my daughter is 9, so the family is at a stage where it is a good time to move now. So when the Munster opportunity came and Rassie suggested I come to look at something new, I went for it. I am keen and I have always been to try new things, so I think personally, to develop me as a coach it was a good thing to come here. I am used to Super Rugby, I am used to the way rugby is played there. I think this will be a fantastic learning curve for me to come and test your skills in the Northern Hemisphere. I don’t know if it is the same in up here, but if you listen to commentators on TV, they will tell you that this is different in the North or this is different in the South, but I wanted to come here and experience it for myself. To see what is different, to see if it is different. I am currently learning from the way things have been done here, the ways things are different in South Africa. Was it a tough decision? No. It was something we were keen to do a long way back and it is the case that this opportunity came now for us.
Did you look at Munster’s defence last season and think they can improve?
To be honest, I didn’t look at Munster. The only time I looked at them would have been when they were on TV. I would look at any Pro12 or European game when it was on. It was normally shown on a Sunday in South Africa. I would not look at the game in an analytical sense or anything. It is always nice to look at another tournament with a beer in your hand, BBQ on one side and the kids playing on the other, then it is not work. The only game that I looked at analytically was when I interviewed for the Munster job. They gave me a laptop and asked me to analyse a couple of games. I think it was the Leinster game last season. I went through that game and they asked me questions, but other than that, I think that a blank canvas is the easiest way to go into anything. Because, to be critical, I would need to know the systems and the policies and I didn’t. I come with a set fresh of ideas, judging the players on what I see on the training fields and in the matches.
Culturally, what will be the biggest issues in living here?
It will probably be harder for my family. Off the pitch, we will be away from our friends, which could be seen as a negative, but can also been seen as a positive. In South Africa you might not see your family as much as you could. You might be with your mates or having BBQ’s, where now, as a family, we do things together, which is a huge positive.
On a personal level, on the pitch, the methodology I use to coach a player is different across all teams and nationalities. Everyone has different ways of learning and that is the professional advancement I am looking for here. To get the message across that I need to get across. I know what buttons to press for South African players, but I am not sure how to do it here. That is the biggest challenge for me here. People will ask, what is your defensive philosophy and I will say the biggest issue is getting your idea and tactics you want to get across, across to players who need to have a certain skill set for that tactic. To find a way to get that skill set, if it is not at the required level, or if it is at a level above what I am used to, how can I use that to advance the system I need to use.
Attitude/Work Rate, are the corner stones of a Nienaber defence – Have you seen that already with Munster?
Yes. The one thing I will say that has impressed me, and I said it to the players last week, is that there is a refusal to be defeated. If you saw what the players did in the last couple of weeks of last season and where they were and where they ended up to, that is a characteristic that is huge. If you make a tackle, it has to be unbelievably personal. That is where your attitude has to come out. I am excited to work with players who have got that. Even in the training sessions, I can things like that. You will only see for 100% in games, but already you can see, as a coach, little glimpses of that ‘never give up’ attitude.
Have Munster’s previous South African players contacted you about the move?
I was Wian Du Preez’s S&C coach from 2004-2007. I coach JDV from 2008 until he finished last year and GVDH I coach from 2012 until 2014. When Munster came up, I asked about it. The tradition of 2006/2008 is famous. It brought the name to the foreground, but locally, with the players I mentioned, it was hugely positive. With Jean, he told me how he perceived Ireland and Munster and it was always positive. So I wasn’t, particularly looking for a club, when Rassie came and asked me about whether I was keen for a change. When he said Munster, that was the cherry on the top.
Will your defensive outlook change with the weather here?
That is why I am here. I don’t know. I am honest about that. If I talk about coaching personal development, commentators will talk about Northern Hemisphere rugby and it’s weather. I told the players this the other day. I am quoting myself here. I am not 100% sure in any way, that what we are going now will not change in two months time. It probably will. I am very much an inclusive guy, who likes to involve people. However the accountability lies with me. If we concede four tries, the accountability is with me and not the players. It was not his (the player) bad decision, it was my bad coaching. So, I am honest about that. That is why I am here. I want to be challenged. Even if the rugby is tighter here and more challenging and there is not so much width, and you have to change your patterns, that is fine. If I don’t come here willing to change my ideas, change my plans and make better decsions, I will never become an ultimate or complete coach. I know what the Southern hemisphere bring in terms of Super Rugby, massive skill sets. Out flanking opponents, massive width, good kicking game, it is something I am used to. I made plans that worked and I made plans that didn’t work, that is the nature of it.
How do you think you will deal with Limerick as a rugby mad city?
I think I was lucky, that where I started, in Bloemfontein, is very similar to Munster. It is a farming community there. There is only rugby. They don’t play cricket there. They don’t play soccer. They only play rugby. One of the biggest schools I was involved in, was a rugby school in Bloemfontein, which brought up some great SpringBoks. Cape Town is also rugby mad, so I think having come through there, will help. My old job was to make sure that schools, clubs and national teams were all on the same pages.
It seems you are a workaholic, is that true?
Off the field, I like to have a beer and a laugh, otherwise you would go insane. I think it is important to spend time with family and friends. Having a beer, having a good meal are always nice. I trade stocks from time to time, I like that a lot. I play Golf, but not enough. Having good craic, I am keen on that. Otherwise you would go mad, but economics, finance etc are my interests.
