Nienaber wary for Leinster as he returns to familiar ground in Cape Town

Senior coach Jacques Nienaber and head coach Leo Cullen. Pic: Nick Elliott/Inpho

Jacques Nienaber is approaching Leinster’s opening block of URC games, a stretch that includes three South African opponents and a Croke Park meeting with Munster, with decidedly mixed feelings.

It’s a tough opening innings for the reigning league champions, starting on Friday night against the Stormers in Cape Town where they have never won, and with a team devoid of so many star players after the Ireland and British and Irish Lions summer tours.

“So, there will be a lot of emotion and there will be a lot of pride in the Stormers game. I coached here for six years,” said the Leinster senior coach. “They’ve got a good fan base. They are a proud team and they love playing in Cape Town.

“So, just our run in the first month, not excuses, this is the reality. We play the Stormers. They will be proud. It will be tough over here and we have to prepare for that. Then we play the Bulls, which will be a repeat of the final of last year.

“Then we’re going to play the Sharks, who lost to the Bulls in the semi-finals [last season]. And then we're going to play Munster in Croke Park. The nice thing is we will hit top-quality opposition early on and that will give us a sense where we are at.” 

Nienaber has been straight up about a pre-season that, he admits, has not been ideal what with the province welcoming back their players in three distinct groups and times. And there was just the one pre-season friendly to apply some glue to this first mix.

Still, it's hard to be too sympathetic about a squad that, for all the big-name absentees, will still be able to field 13 internationals first time out. 

The Stormers, Bulls, Sharks, Munster and Zebre will not be walking down Easy Street this side of November.

“Excited and nervous,” said Nienaber of the next five weeks. “I’m saying I’m nervous playing against them because they are quality teams. If you get it wrong against them, they can put you to the sword and they can do it quickly. The Bulls did that to us a couple of seasons ago.

“The Stormers did that to us last year. We had a result against the Stormers for the first time, I think, in four years. We beat the Stormers, and it was at the Aviva. At half-time, we were 7-0 down. Then we had a good second-half to the game. So, we are under no illusions.

“I’m nervous. I know the South Africans. I know what they’re going to play for, and I know what the Stormers are playing for. I coached them from 2008 until 2014. So, I know what they will be like.” 

Leinster: J O’Brien; T O’Brien, R Henshaw, C Frawley, J Larmour; S Prendergast, L McGrath; J Boyle, G McCarthy, R Slimani; D Mangan, B Deeny; R Baird, S Penny, J Culhane.

DHL Stormers: W Simelane, S Senatla, R Nel, D du Plessis, L Zas, J Matthee, S Ungerer; v Matongo, AH Venter, N Fouche; A Smith, JD Schickerling; P De Villiers, BJ Dixon, E Roos.