Jonny Holland says he doesn't expect new Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber to make sweeping changes to the province in his debut season, but believes the World Cup winner will arrive in Dublin next week with a lot of homework done around his new side.
The South African is set to start his new role at the province next week ahead of their BKT United Rugby Championship meeting with Munster on Saturday 25 November, three weeks on from leading the Springboks to a second World Cup title in a row.
And Holland, who played under Nienaber when he and Rassie Erasmus were coaching Munster in 2016, says Leinster's replacement for Stuart Lancaster won't have been lying idle since the World Cup celebrations.
"This fella, I don't know does he do holidays!," Holland joked on the RTE Rugby podcast.
"If you're going to start in-season, you’d better have your work done or you won’t be able to have a handle on what you do when you come in.
"If you don't have your work done you’re going to have to observe things until Christmas, you might as well be on gardening leave.
"You’re making first impressions with a lot of these people. Yeah, his reputation might precede him but that’s not good enough if you’re going to be a good coach."
By the time Nienaber arrives next week, the province will already be five games into their season, and so Holland doesn't expect him to make any major changes during his first season working with Leo Cullen.
However, he says the former Munster defence coach will have done extensive research on the province's strengths and weaknesses.
"I think he'll have to build on the structures. I don't think he'll come in and change things around too much but I can guarantee you he’ll have his work done when he comes in. He’s not going to be going, 'Where’s my office, where’s my laptop?', I can guarantee you he has so many Leinster games on his laptop.
"He’s going to want to come in and make an impression, but from my limited dealings with him, my guess is he’ll come in and have so much work done he’ll impress people with how much he’s seen, how much detail he can go though. That’s what he’s about.
"We know from the South Africa camp that the details they go through are top. He’ll know everything about as many people as he can, about their structures, and I think the sooner he can start implementing things it’ll freshen things up."
The province have enjoyed a typically impressive start to the URC, bouncing back from an away defeat to Glasgow in Round 1 to pick up three consecutive bonus-point wins ahead of welcoming the Scarlets to the RDS this weekend.
The most recent of those victories came away to the Dragons on Sunday, with Dan Sheehan (above) one of several Irish internationals to get their first taste of URC action this season. The hooker captained the province for the first time in the 33-10 win, and Holland says there appears to be little sign of a post-World Cup hangover from the returning Irish squad.
"I thought it was a genius move to give someone like Dan Sheehan something to really drive it on with, the captaincy, something to prove a point with, and he did that," Holland added.
"He got a highlight reel of a turnover offload, running half the pitch to get on the end of a one-two with Ciarán Frawley, so the energy he put into that game, maybe it's a genius stroke giving a guy like that captain, and giving him something else to fight for.
"They have so much talent, and their squad is so competitive that if they come back and drag their heels, they won't be in the next Irish squad. That's how you lose your Irish place as fast as anything, by going back to Leinster and not performing, because you have the next Irish player in your position potentially.
"They have to come in and perform, but there's no better environment to come into than with a coach you've just seen working a bit of magic in the World Cup, you'll come back in with a point to prove."
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