Former Leinster captain Jamie Heaslip believes the appointment of Jacques Nienaber to their coaching team is a mark of the province's standing in the game.
The URC leaders confirmed this afternoon that the Springboks head coach would be joining Leo Cullen's coaching ticket after the World Cup, replacing senior coach Stuart Lancaster who is departing for Racing 92.
The former Munster assistant's appointment came as a major surprise, particularly with South Africa set to face Ireland at the World Cup later this year.
Nienaber will link up with Leinster after the conclusion of the tournament, and Heaslip says it shows how big a draw Leinster have become.
"It's definitely an organisation that players and coaches want to go to," he told RTÉ Sport, ahead of Leinster's URC meeting with the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg.
And Heaslip, who spent 18 months working under Lancaster at Leinster before his retirement in 2018, says the South African World Cup winner has big shoes to fill.
"I think Leo has a challenge ahead of him. Stuart [Lancaster] has done pretty much all the attack and defence, so it will be interesting to see how the new coaches pan out."
"A huge statement of intent"
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) April 15, 2023
The panel have been discussing Leinster's surprise acquisition of South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber.
Live now on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player. pic.twitter.com/dXCxgciaNu
Heaslip was joined on this afternoon's RTÉ panel by former Ireland captain Fiona Coghlan, who says the appointment is a major coup for the province.
"What an addition to have," she said. "This will be his third World Cup he's been involved in, he's currently head coach, he has been defence coach, and it's just a huge statement of intent from Leinster about where they are and where they want to go."
"It's really good business by Leinster, Shane Nolan coming in as the new CEO had to get that business done.
"It was tough boots to fill, Lancaster, he looked after attack and defence. They haven't stated whether Nienaber will come in as defence coach, but it looks like he will, with [Andrew] Goodman as attack coach."
The 50-year-old was appointed head coach at South Africa following their 2019 World Cup triumph, having been defence coach for Rassie Erasmus with the Springboks since 2017, while the pair also worked together at Munster during the 2016/17 season.
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