At times emotionless, yet passionate. Occasionally passive, but always driven. For some, outgoing Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber appears to be a paradox.
To the players that have emerged through his coaching hands, he is a man of laser-eyed clarity. Nienaber, perhaps as a result of his physiotherapist background, brings a scientific approach to the coach’s box.
He draws comfort, if not wisdom, from facts and numbers, formulas and ratios. He applies his mind where others might yield to their heart. In the dead of winter, sentiment will likely freeze at his backdoor.
Did he allow himself even a twitch of emotion in the build-up to last night’s Rugby World Cup final before he leaves the job? Typically, there was a long explanation. “In 2011, when I was in New Zealand with the Springboks at the World Cup, I thought I would probably continue. Then Heyneke (Meyer) went another route with John McFarland, and they were very successful together. I thought I’d have seven games with the Springboks, and it was unbelievable.
It’s probably the biggest occasion that we will ever be part of, and probably the biggest rugby game there has ever been
— Jacques Nienaber, outgoing Springbok coach, he said before the final
“In 2016, I got another opportunity with the Boks but then I’d already signed with Munster, so I only had three Test matches with the Boks. I thought when I left for Munster that’s it, and thought I had 10 incredible Tests with the Springboks.
“Then we came back to 2018. The point is, you actually don’t know the future. I’m not emotional. I’ve twice been in positions where I’ve thought this is the end, I’ll never be here again, and look where we are now.”
Nienaber can’t definitively say whether he might return to the Boks in future. “You can plan life as much as you want but life has its own ways. Destiny has its own way. I just focus on how you should approach the game. I stay in the now and in the moment enjoy the players. I think this group will never happen in our lifetime again,” he said about the Class of ’23.
“It’s probably the biggest occasion that we will ever be part of, and probably the biggest rugby game there has ever been,” he said before the final.
What has clearly helped the Bok cause is the familiarity within the squad. Previously he had been SA Rugby’s high-performance manager and involved with the Elite Player Development Programme.
“Damian Willemse, Manie Libbok, Jessie Kriel, Malcolm Marx... all guys I’ve worked with since they were 17. That’s what makes it so special. That’s why I enjoy the time with the players. I just sat in the changing room having a drink after one of the training sessions looking at the players and I had a story from every single one.
“They haven’t become big-headed. If they are not selected, they take it on the chin, as they know it’s for South Africa, just like they did back then.”
The coach unapologetically puts the team first. Libbok’s axing on the eve of the RWC final after a mostly stellar year in the team, speaks to that point.
Indubitably the Boks are in a better place now than when he and Rassie Erasmus joined the team in 2018. Now Nienaber is off to Leinster.
Again, a decision in which emotion was removed from the equation as it might have dictated he not throw his weight behind a team that rivals Munster.
Perhaps, more pertinent, his unhitching from Erasmus is not the pursuit for personal recognition but the quest to broaden an already vast rugby brain. Knowing Nienaber, it’s most likely au revoir for now, until we meet again.
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