![Jacques Nienaber: '[Ronan's] players love him and they play for him'](https://www.rte.ie/images/00200d02-800.jpg)
Chasing the Sun 2 puts the Netflix Full Contact effort firmly in the shade.
The producers gained incredible access to the Springboks camp, which was led by Rassie Erasmus and now Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber, as they plotted a way to a second successive World Cup title last year.
One of their methods was to find the 'soul' of a team and then, well, proceed to crush it one bone at a time.
Scotland’s, they decided, was movement through their out-half Finn Russell – put him under enough pressure and that was the game.
Ireland’s soul, according to Nienaber, was "how technical they are and how... information-driven they are".
While they lost to Andy Farrell men’s in the pool tie, they went on to collect the souls of France, England and New Zealand, like the Grim Reaper in green, before lifting the Webb Ellis for the fourth time. Hey – whatever works.
The South African was up for media duty early this week and while he was able to rattle off La Rochelle’s obvious industry specifications, he smiled and chuckled when he was asked how he would describe the soul of the team he is tasked with knocking out in Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup quarter-final (5.30pm, live on RTÉ).
'I'm probably not going to go into that' - Leinster coach Jacques Nienaber brushes off the question around the soul of La Rochelle
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 10, 2024
Watch live coverage of Leinster v La Rochelle in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals on Saturday from 5pm on @RTÉ2 pic.twitter.com/MV3feDgYIS
"I’m probably not going to go into that," he told RTÉ Sport
"It’s a good question and it’s something that we would definitely have to find out in the next couple of days between ourselves as coaches and the players.
"I would probably stay clear of that."
Another striking element from the SuperSport documentary was how deep a well Nienaber and Erasmus had available to draw inspiration from: Mandela, winning the World Cup in 1995, the birth of the Rainbow Nation, poverty and hardship, unemployment, the energy crisis, the list goes on.
In the absence of such turmoil on tap in Ireland, where does he go to inspire Leinster?
"For me to come in and say that I know the history of the club and the history of Ireland, or Irish rugby, I would be lying so I don’t think I could go there," he explains.
"It’s not something that you can plastically generate, it must be something that’s embedded in you.
"Obviously, that’s one of the nice challenges and where you will probably grow as a coach.
"I won’t say it’s easy but it’s easier to look for motivation within an environment or culture that you know, a country that you know or the history that you know, it’s easy to fall back on that.
"My challenge is to do the same over here but in a different way."
Nienaber had a spell alongside Erasmus with Munster between 2016 and 2017, and is just over four months into his tenure at Leinster.
He spent six years taking the Springboks to the top so has he been able to sense a difference in the mentality of an Irish player versus a South African?
"I don’t know," says the 51-year-old. "Purely, look at the history of the two countries, I’m not even going to go into the players, look at the history of the countries.
"One is a Third World country, and one is a First World country. It’s two complete opposites.
"I don’t think it’s my place to get into players’ mentalities because every player’s mentality is different.
"Even players within Ireland will have different mentalities, through their history, where they come from, their upbringing, their schooling, challenges that they faced in life.
"Mentalities are something that are installed in you from youth, it’s different.
"Even in South Africa, players coming from the rural areas that did not have the ways and financial means to go to schools, had to drop out of school and start working.
"Their mentality will be different to a guy that went to Bishops, which is one of the wealthiest schools in South Africa.
"I don’t think it’s necessarily a country thing, it’s purely how you grew up."
On Saturday evening at the Aviva Stadium, he will pit his wits against Ronan O’Gara again.
Nienaber wasn’t around for any one of Leinster’s three knock-out defeats to La Rochelle and was just in the door when Leo Cullen’s side won the pool match in December.
He spoke about his previous dealings with the former Munster and Ireland out-half.
"I met him in [2017], we actually had a beer together the night before [Munster] played Racing, the game that got postponed after Axel [Foley’s] passing, the one in January," he said.
"He came to the hotel and the whole Munster group met up with him and we just had a beer the night before the game.
"[After that I had] a couple of conversations on WhatsApp when I was still with the Boks but that’s our dealings.
"What do I make of him as a coach? You don’t win back-to-back European Championship titles by not being a good coach.
"He’s a quality coach and a quality human being if I look at it from the outside. His players love him and they play for him.
"What do I see when I look at La Rochelle from the outside? I see a very aligned leadership structure at the top and that’s probably down to him."
Watch Leinster v La Rochelle in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
