Bernard Jackman believes Jacques Nienaber has changed the mentality of Leinster's squad since his arrival 12 months ago, with the province now playing like "psychos" since buying into his defence-first strategy.
The double World Cup-winning coach arrived at the province in December 2023, working alongside Leo Cullen as senior coach, and the defensive specialist has implemented his aggressive defence onto Cullen’s squad.
While it was evident in patches during the second half of last season, Leinster’s defence has been watertight this season, giving up just 130 points through their opening 11 games in all competitions, with Edinburgh and Ulster being the only sides to have scored more than 12 points against them in a single game.
In recent weeks, that defence has become even more aggressive. Since getting their Ireland internationals back for the Champions Cup, they have conceded 12, 7, 12 and 7 points in consecutive games, with Munster the latest team who have struggled to break them down.
As well as playing an aggressive, in-your-face defensive line, Leinster are also competing hard at breakdowns in their attempts to knock their opponents off stride, and Jackman says the players appear to be buying fully into the teachings of their South African coach.
"It’s just been fascinating, the game model they have, how they have bought into it. The Nienaber effect is phenomenal," he told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.
"He’s turned south county Dublin players into proper psychos. There’s an edge to nearly every one of them.
"It’s not just a couple of players in the forward pack, James Ryan going around bashing people; he’s doing that, but nearly every single one of them, and even players off the bench, and whether they’ve got single digits on their jersey, or double digits, they’re looking to win those physical battles over and over again.
"It seems to be a love of doing it. It’s a massive change and has got better week on week.
"We saw a strong Leinster team go to Limerick and they relished the task. In fairness, Munster threw everything they had at them. I’d have no criticism of Munster, I thought Munster left it all out there.
"It wasn’t a 50-0 [win]. Munster actually threw pretty much everything they had, and yet you felt at the end they were just out of juice."
While Leinster are conceding very little, they are doing in spite of a disciplinary record which is inviting pressure from the opposition.
In the opening round of the Champions Cup against Bristol Bears, they gave away 17 penalties and had three yellow cards, while they conceded more penalties than Connacht and Munster in their Interpro wins over Christmas, with a combined 27 penalties and three yellows in those two games.
However, Jackman believes that while their penalty count is consistently high, they appear to be content to soak up pressure and run the risk of cards, backing their defence to eventually hold out.
"It’s like the snake, the boa constrictor, where they just wrap themselves around you and suffocate you or choke you with their game management, but their ability to stay within that system and look for field position and convert that redzone entries into scores.
"Munster had loads of redzone entries, and you will get that against Leinster at the moment, because their discipline is quite poor. But I think they know that, and they’re not really worried about it because teams aren't punishing them."
However, Jackman says he’s fascinated to see whether that tactic works against sides who are big enough to take Leinster on physically, starting with the next Champions Cup game away to La Rochelle next week.
"It will be interesting if La Rochelle get penalties on the 40. They have a bigger pack, so they could potentially go to the corner and score, but if they start taking three points – no one has really done that against them.
"They’re doing it [kicking penalties] against Ireland. Ireland's discipline has dropped off a little bit, and some of that is down to how Leinster players are playing for Leinster where it doesn't seem to be a 'no no’ to give away penalties at the breakdown, to give away penalties for offside.
"They back themselves to be able to get themselves out of that situation. And the ones they don't get blown for will be big wins for them.
"The way Leinster have shifted is amazing to watch, but it’s the buy-in that they’ve got on it. Maybe not winning a trophy makes that easier, players are more receptive.
"The Nienaber effect has been massive, and much more this year than last year now that he’s had a full pre-season," he added.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
