Back in February, it was decided that Jacques Nienaber would be stepping down as the coach of the Springboks after the rugby World Cup and head off to Ireland so that he could coach Leinster.
Nienaber’s move to Leinster as a senior coach sees him replace Stuart Lancaster, who later moved to Racing 92.
Nienaber said his move to Irish super club Leinster was informed by the need to spend more time with his family. When the two-time World Cup Winner spoke about the conversation he had with his wife, it got him thinking hard about the sport that is impacting his family.
“When my wife told me that she doesn’t think we can do another four years of this, then I had to take everything into consideration”, says Nienaber.
The kids also added their two cents on the matter saying, “Dad, we need you at home,” he explained. He’s made a fine start to life in Dublin, with Leinster sitting top of the URC. They now set their sights on La Rochelle in a repeat of last season’s Champions Cup final.
However, he had also revealed that several offers from international unions have reached out to the two-time World Cup-winning to coach but he already made up his mind about coaching club rugby in Ireland.
“There were other offers from other internationals. It wasn’t for me to change, or to move, or to come north. It wasn’t anything like that. It was just that I needed to get away from international rugby. That was the reason,” he said.
Jacques Nienaber explains the exact reason why he left his role as the Springboks head coach to become senior coach at Leo Cullen's Leinster. #Leinster #Springboks pic.twitter.com/XgxNW3QA3Q
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 6, 2023
He even got the blessing from his former employers at SA Rugby.
“They gave me their blessing and then, when the opportunity came up, we announced it as quickly as possible because it was never for me that I didn’t want to work in South Africa anymore”, said Nienaber.
