Nienaber back for ‘monster’ URC opener
Jacques Nienaber is back on familiar soil this week as he looks to help Leinster make a winning start to the defence of their Vodacom URC crown.
The double World Cup winner spent six years in Cape Town as part of the Stormers coaching team before moving on to the Springboks set-up.
Now he has returned to the coastal city with Leinster for Friday night’s “massive” URC opener against the Stormers under the floodlights.
“It’s always nice coming back to Cape Town. My family is here,” said the 52-year-old. “I spent six years at the Stormers. It’s a club that was good to me and that I learned a lot from. It gave me a lot of joy and a lot of good memories.
“I’m looking forward to the game against them. It’s going to be a massive challenge. They will be very determined. We will have to fight for it, and we will have to go to the gutters for it.
“Not many teams come over here and get a result at the Stormers. They are a very tough team, especially here in Cape Town, with the crowd that they get.
“They are one of the best supported teams within the country. I am sure it’s going to be a massive atmosphere on Friday night and one that we are certainly looking forward to.
“It’s brilliant for us. We are very excited to be here.”
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Reflecting on Leinster’s opening block of games, Nienaber said: “We have a tough start.
“We kick off against the Stormers, who finished fifth last season. Then we play the Bulls, who will be very determined after what happened against us in the final. Then it’s the Sharks who reached the semi-finals.
“So, on the hop, it’s the three South African teams who finished fifth, second, and third.
“We will have a good idea where we are after those three games, and then it’s Munster.
“So our first month is a blockbuster month for us, which is great.”
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He added, “We are not entitled to having a good start just because we are the defending champions. We will have to work hard. It will be good for us.
“There’s always big determination within the squad, and we are a club that prides ourselves on trying to fight for a trophy on two fronts. We want to fight in the URC and we want to fight in Europe and try to go as deep as possible in both competitions.
“But it’s important for us to understand we are not entitled to any trophies. We must work hard for them. We’ve got no right to anything.
“I don’t think the fact that we had a result in the final last year will be relevant. I don’t think anybody is going to think ‘Hang on, lads, we won a trophy a couple of months ago, so things should be easier.’ It’s not going to be like that.”
Stormers coach John Dobson has a lot of time for Nienaber, the man who oversees Leinster’s defence.
“He’s a very, very good coach, which doesn’t help the anxiety levels,” said Dobson. “He knows us very well. He was at the Stormers for about five years, and we stay in touch.”
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Giving his thoughts on the contest ahead, he said: “It’s going to be a massive week. It’s a monster of a start.
“It’s going to be a heaving stadium, the Stormers against the defending champions under the Friday night lights.
“Then, after the game, people can go into the bars in the city and have some more fun. It’s a fantastic night out.”
As for ambitions for the season, Dobson said, “We have to host playoffs in Cape Town. That’s all we have been speaking about in camp.
“We’ve got some fantastic new players and it’s a really good, happy, tight squad.”
Photo: Shaun Roy/Gallo Images