Brian O’Driscoll insists Jacques Nienaber’s defence ‘ingrained’ in Ireland stars: ‘There’s definitely an issue’
Wallabies celebrate try v Ireland and former Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll.
Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll still believes that Jacques Nienaber’s system at Leinster is causing issues for their star players when transitioning to Test rugby.
Andy Farrell’s men edged to a 33-31 victory over the Wallabies last weekend, but they struggled in defence, conceding 24 points in the first half alone.
It could have been even worse had Hugo Keenan not produced a magnificent tackle on Australia’s Joseph Suaalii which stopped what seemed a guaranteed try.
That moment changed the momentum and enabled Ireland to get back into the contest and eke out a win, but it was not a convincing performance, especially without the ball.
“It’s a huge try-saving tackle from Hugo, another bad defensive error,” O’Driscoll told Off The Ball.
Nienaber’s blitz defence
The former captain has previously stated that Nienaber’s extreme style of blitz defence could be causing problems for the Leinster players when heading to Ireland and he reiterated that point, although they weren’t the only ones to make mistakes last weekend.
“There’s definitely an issue with transferring one defensive system to another. It’s ingrained in these Leinster players, and actually it’s not just them,” O’Driscoll said.
“I saw [Ulster’s] Stuart McCloskey at one stage shooting out of the line and the big thing about the shooters coming out of the line is you have to stop the ball or force the players back inside, but Australia were getting the ball out the back, they were doing those little loop plays.
“They have big variety hitting the short runner after that and sometimes going out the back, so Ireland looked incredibly exposed and that Hugo Keenan tackle on Suaalii was significant.
“If it goes out to 19 points, maybe 21 points, all of a sudden we don’t have an opportunity to score just before half-time, and it’s a very different game going in at half-time with momentum on our side.
“They will be very disappointed with an awful lot of those errors.”
Having got that first game out of the way, O’Driscoll expects to see an improvement from the Irishmen when they face Japan this weekend, even though they have made a few changes.
“I have sympathy for these players because it is something which has been drilled and drilled over the course of the last few years, particularly at Leinster with Jacques Nienaber’s defence, but the big thing about the shooting process is they’re expecting other people to follow them in,” he said.
“When they have line speed off the line, they think whoever is outside them is going to shut it off as well and that actually hasn’t been happening because it’s a different system.
“I will imagine it will be significantly better [against Japan], there must be five or six examples at least around players shooting and not stopping the ball.
“The issue is your hustle from the inside and your jam from your outside then gets disconcerted of not really knowing what’s going on.
“If the outside defender is playing soft and someone shoots, you leave this massive dogleg, and then likewise the hustle on the inside doesn’t know when to double under or whether to plug the inside and stay where the player has been forced back in.
“There’s all this uncertainty around the defensive system.”
Recurring theme for Ireland
O’Driscoll stated that they have had the same issue at the start of both the recent Six Nations and the 2025 November series, but they have managed to correct those problems in the following matches.
“That happened a little bit in the France game at the start of the Six Nations, it happened over in Chicago where they just weren’t very connected,” he said.
“I think another week will help give them an understanding around you cannot do that, you’re hurting the team if you shoot that way.”
However, if Ireland continue to get it wrong, O’Driscoll has warned that the All Blacks and Eddie Jones’ Japan have the ability to cut Farrell’s side apart.
“There’s lots to learn from that game but most of all defensively, they’re not going to be afforded that luxury of making those errors against Japan but particularly against the All Blacks,” he added.
“From November, looking at some of Japan’s attack, it’s outstanding – really sharp, good passers, very explosive runners, they play wide, wide – so if they do that and Ireland don’t stop the ball, Japan will run free.”
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