Ex-Ireland fly-half warns Simon Easterby of ‘demoralising’ consequences of not employing the tactics of Springboks ‘spy’ Jacques Nienaber

Former Ireland playmaker Ian Madigan insists that the Jacques Nienaber blitz defence is absolutely vital if Andy Farrell’s men are to win silverware and potentially lift the Rugby World Cup.

The former Springboks head coach, who was lifted the Webb Ellis Cup on two occasions, joined Leinster after South Africa’s 2023 triumph.

Nienaber has since gone about altering their defensive system, implementing a rearguard at the province which is akin to what he employed at the Boks.

With Leinster effectively forming most of the Ireland team, the question is whether they will use a similar method in the Six Nations.

Current interim boss Simon Easterby is the person in charge of that area and Madigan believes that it is crucial he follows Nienaber’s example.

‘Value’ in the Nienaber defence

“The majority of the players are coming from the Leinster team, it’s just the reality. They’re beginning to see the real value in that rush defence,” he told the Irish Independent’s The Rugby Show.

“Leinster concede the least amount of points in the league and they score the most, and you very rarely see that.

“For me, to win the likes of the Six Nations or to go on and win the World Cup… Ireland need to be able to employ the blitz defence.

“By employing the system that Joe Schmidt had Australia using against us in the autumn, I don’t believe that we win a competition like the World Cup by doing that.

“We have to be on the line, pushing as hard as we can, catching teams behind the gain line. I’m a big fan of the defensive system.

“For Ireland to beat the likes of France and for Leinster to win the Champions Cup and beat the likes of Toulouse, Bordeaux or La Rochelle, they need to defend that way.”

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There has been a suggestion that Nienaber could act like a ‘spy’ by stealing all of Leinster’s and Ireland’s secrets before heading home to South Africa, but Madigan states it is Andy Farrell’s side who could be benefiting from his presence.

Host Joe Molloy queried whether the ex-Springboks head coach could be doing Ireland a favour, to which Madigan replied: “Massively so.”

The former fly-half also felt that there was a defensive development in the Autumn Nations Series when they played the All Blacks, Argentina, Fiji and Australia.

“In the autumn, we saw them more aggressive off the lineout. Just as the ball’s being popped from the top of the lineout and you’ve got players now sprinting up,” Madigan said.

He added: “A good litmus test is always the midpoint at the lineout – are we winning that? If the lineout is on the halfway line, you are seeing Leinster making the impact sometimes on the opposition 10-metre line. The impact is seven, eight, nine metres past where the gain line is – it’s phenomenal.

“Ireland will bring that in, I’ve got no doubt.”

Unrest

Madigan believes that it would be a huge mistake for Ireland not to copy the Nienaber blueprint, particularly due to the disruption it could cause in camp.

“With the ‘D’ coach and the way he implements a system, it accumulates week on week. For example, he’s saying, ‘look Joe you made the tackle but you could have pushed hard, you could have pushed the guy higher up the field’,” he said.

“Or, ‘Ian, you were inside Joe, you needed to be up higher with him to release him to make the tackle further back.’

“That all accumulates, you’re making it clear to them. Every player’s looking at that going, ‘that’s what I’ve got to do to get in this team.’ That accumulates over a day, a week, a month, two months, a season as we’ve seen with Leinster.

“Now you’ve got Leinster employing this system, getting the results and they know what good looks like, and they’ve been pushing the boat.

“To then go back to a system that you know now in the heart of hearts is not as good as the one you’re employing, that is demoralising.”

READ MORE: Bernard Jackman claims Jacques Nienaber has turned Leinster’s players into ‘proper psychos’