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INSIDER: Jacques Nienaber

rugby27 January 2020 11:42| © SuperSport
By:Brenden Nel
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Jacques Nienaber © Getty Images

Life takes you on some strange twists and turns, but little did a young Jacques Nienaber know that when, way back in 1991 he bumped into the roommate of a friend of his, it would shape the rest of his life and career forever.

Nienaber was appointed Springbok coach on Friday, succeeding his long-time mate Rassie Erasmus, although the two will still work hand in glove together to lead the World Champions into a tougher task than winning the Webb Ellis trophy – to stay as the world’s No 1 rugby team.

Nienaber was stationed at 1SDB in Bloemfontein – 1 Special Battalion – and was forced into the army through conscription. He admits he wanted to go and study to be a physiotherapist “but there was no way my grades allowed it.”

“There were no gap years back then,” he laughs, “and my parents couldn’t support me, so the army it was.”

At the Bloemfontein Tempe base, he met a young rugby player from Despatch, the same rugby player that would later become a Springbok, win a Currie Cup as player and coach and lead the Springboks to the Rugby World Cup.

Erasmus was stationed at the Panzer battalion in the same airforce base, and on meeting the two struck up a friendship that would last 20 years and shape their futures.

After his year of conscription was up, Nienaber returned to studying at nearby Kovies (University of the Free State) but Erasmus stayed on in the army.

“He was tactically a genius and he enjoyed it, so he stayed on, it suited him,” Nienaber says.

A GROWING FRIENDSHIP

But the two would get together at Nienaber’s student house and share a few beers, as the friendship grew.

Almost three decades later, Erasmus entrusted his lieutenant, his trusted he friend, with the team he holds so dear to his heart – the Springboks.

It isn’t difficult to understand why. While most South Africans are used to a coaching team that comes in with a background and pedigree, Nienaber doesn’t fit that bill at all.

In fact, he has never been a head coach in his life, so why change the wheel now?

Well, precisely because the past system has seen the Springboks get it right every 12 years and lurch from coaching appointment to coaching appointment every single time.

Erasmus is fiercely loyal, and Nienaber has been at his side for 25 years in one or other team management and coaching structure. If there is anyone he trusts with his life, it is Nienaber.

CONTINUITY IN COACHING

Still, as SA Rugby president Mark Alexander put it so succinctly on Friday at the announcement: “In the past we appointed a coach, and he came in with his people and changed the system. We threw out the system and started a new one. And every four years this happened.

“We are now here to seek continuity, to make sure that the same systems are built on and get better.”

Those familiar with English football will know the scenario of a manager of a side who fronts the media while the coaches continue in the background. Nienaber’s appointment is a similar option, only the other way around.

Erasmus has stepped back to continue in his role as Director of Rugby, to focus more on the strategic long-term health of SA Rugby. To ensure the pipeline is healthy into the Springbok system.

But come test seasons there will be no other place than alongside Nienaber that you will find the coach. They will be working together, as they have in the past few years in the Bok team. The only real difference is Nienaber will be the public face, and have more responsibility.

In essence the same systems, the same strategies and thinking will take the Boks forward. The pressure is just a bit more off Erasmus.

A COACHING PARTNERSHIP

But back to the partnership. When Erasmus was playing for Shimlas, and then later the Cheetahs, Nienaber had progressed to being both sides’ physiotherapist for the season. When Erasmus moved into coaching, Nienaber followed him, first at Free State and then at Western Province.

It was clear the two were a duo that were going to be together for a long time.

But as much as they are joined at the hip, Nienaber is his own man.

While many may not know him as well as they would like, he has been in the backroom for a long time. He went from physio to strength and conditioning coach, and from S&C to defence coach in a number of years.

With a single-mindedness and steely determination that is just as apparent with Erasmus, Nienaber excelled in every role. His handling of the players behind the scenes is testament to this. A popular choice in every side he has been involved in, he crafted the defensive system that made Western Province and the Stormers so difficult to beat when Erasmus was there, and eventually a defence that suffocated opposition so much that the Boks won the World Cup in style.

FEAR OF THE MEDIA

But behind that determination has been a desire to work in the shadows. Nienaber laughs about it now, but the biggest fear when he worked with the 2011 Rugby World Cup Springbok team, is that media officer Andy Colquhoun would subject him to media interviews.

“I asked not to go in front of the media,” he says, “I was totally out of my comfort-zone. Now I realise it is something I have to do, to help take the next step in my growth as a person and a coach.”

Behind the scenes he worked with Erasmus and slowly built up a reputation of a hard-working meticulous coach who put in the long hours and accommodated players to make sure he always had the team’s best interests at heart.

Erasmus left for Munster in Ireland for two seasons with Nienaber and the new Bok coach realised he would need to break the mould if he was to do his job with the same effectiveness.

“It was different in Europe. In South Africa you can break the ice with a joke, you know the rugby culture, you know what works. But it was very different in Ireland.

“The way they communicate information in a team environment and their culture is very different. I needed to find a different way of getting my message across. It was an immense challenge for me at first.

A COMMUNICATION CHALLENGE

“In South Africa the players come from backgrounds of a bit of hardship. They like the attrition of the battle. But in Ireland the skills were more of a factor, they focused more on the tactics and it was a challenge. I learnt a lot from them, and as much as they learnt from me, I learnt from them.”

It may surprise some to know that Nienaber, although he attended Grey College in Bloemfontein, never was a top rugby player. At 63kg he played “for the seventh team” and was a wily looseforward in his day. But a keen lover of the sport, it was the passion that led him into a life of rugby.

“I know people may see it as a strange pathway to coaching, but to me the pathway is more about work ethics, passion for the game and to love every moment of what you do. Every coach has a different story, but the constant factor is working hard and having passion for what you do,” he explains.

Nienaber is married to Elmarie, who is a physio as well with her own practice, while his two children Carlo and Lila are both still at school in Stellenbosch.

POISONED CHALICE

But given the pressures of the job, is he ready for the poisoned chalice that has claimed so many top coaches in the past few decades?

“I think I’m probably a bit naïve and probably don’t quite understand what is lying ahead in terms of pressure. The pressure will come and things can change in a moment. If you lose a game the pressure will be on you.

“Will I be able to handle it? I wouldn’t have taken the job if I didn’t think I could. But it is part of my development and I will need to manage it properly.”

With Erasmus at his side, Nienaber is in safe hands. But while he may not be a household name, he has been around enough Springbok test matches to know what to do and what not to do.

And if continuity is what SA Rugby needs right now, Erasmus and Nienaber’s combination should be trusted to take them forward.

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