Leinster coach Jacques Nienaber dismisses Sharks gamesmanship against Munster as 'normal'

Jaden Hendrikse of Hollywoodbets Sharks during the URC quarter-final against Munster. Pic: ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Darren Stewart

You rarely need all seven degrees of separation in rugby. If Bradley Davids was something of an unknown until last weekend then Jacques Nienaber needed no introduction to the boyish 21-year-old whose kick ended Munster's URC bid in Durban.

The Leinster senior coach’s son Carlu used to room with the young half-back at Paarl Gimnasium, the same renowned rugby school in the Western Cape that has produced the likes of Jean De Villiers, Handre Pollard and Schalk Burger in days gone by.

“He was the kicker for the school,” said Nienaber.

It showed at King’s Park when Davids, substituted on to the field of play with just two minutes of extra-time to go, nailed his two efforts on goal from a tricky angle in the shootout that eventually separated the sides after an absorbing URC quarter-final.

The pity of it is that Davids’ isn’t still the name on everyone’s lips.

That rather peculiar form of honour has gone to another Sharks half-back, Jaden Hendrikse, whose wink while being treated extensively for an apparent cramp in the middle of that dramatic end game so enraged Jack Crowley.

Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has since tweeted a close-up of Henrikse’s calf which appears to back up the assertion that the 15-cap scrum-half was indeed suffering from the condition, but there is no doubt but that the matter was milked.

Rory Scannell and Conor Murray, Munster’s other two shootout kickers, also had reason to be frustrated by the Sharks’ attitude after the game had ended all square through 100 minutes. Nienaber, a former Munster assistant coach, was more relaxed about all that.

"It's something that happens in the game from minute one to minute 80. There's banter and trying to get under a guy's skin and trying to physically impose yourself on him and try and rub his hair.

"I mean, that happens for 80 minutes, so in this case it was for everyone to see because it's not as secluded as what will be in a game. But it happens in a game.

"Think of Pete [O'Mahony], what did he tell Sam Cane? I mean, that banter flies. If you listen to just the referee mic and you take the commentators away, it's crazy what you hear on that mic. They got stuck into each other. It's just normal."

Saturday’s was the first ever shootout in the history of the URC but Leinster have been preparing for just such an eventuality since they met Harlequins in the round of 16 of the Champions Cup back in April. You’d just never know.

Is Nienaber a fan of it? Well, as a fan, yes. If his own side was involved? Maybe not so much.

If Munster went down all guns blazing in South Africa then Leinster pressed on to this week’s semi-final against Glasgow Warriors with a far-from-emphatic 12-point defeat of Scarlets at an Aviva Stadium that was barely one quarter full.

The province is still awaiting news on whether Josh van der Flier will be fit for the Scottish challenge. The openside flanker came off early three days ago with a hamstring issue and Leinster were still waiting for scan results as of Monday evening.

The official line is a “hopeful” one and that, should he sit out the Glasgow game, then it still isn’t a tear of the type that would jeopardise van der Flier’s chances of using the ticket punched for him when named on the British and Irish Lions squad.

Garry Ringrose (calf) and Tommy O’Brien (foot) are both still being assessed having sat out the quarter-final, but Tadhg Furlong is again ruled out with what is another, but different, calf problem after a season plagued by them.

“It’s tough for a player to get a rhythm,” said Nienaber. “You like to get a string of games and build on your confidence and get the team to get confidence in you. So I think it is frustrating, yeah.” 

Glasgow looked to be back to something approaching their best in accounting for the Stormers in Scotstoun on Friday evening and they bring four Lions to the party in Ballsbridge to face a Leinster side that is just not clicking right now.

Leo Cullen mentioned the Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton Saints four times after the Scarlets game. This despite the fact that no-one had mentioned the game by way of a question. The sense is of a team and a club struggling to find its mojo.

Nienaber claimed otherwise.

“No, it’s gone. The competition is gone. Next year. Like, is there anything we can about it?”