Jacques Nienaber makes stunning ‘they don’t value me’ admission in explosive press conference as Leinster future in serious doubt
Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber and dejected players after Champions Cup final defeat.
Senior coach Jacques Nienaber has cast serious doubt on his Leinster future after stating that he doesn’t feel ‘valued’ at the province.
The Springboks double Rugby World Cup winner arrived at the Irish giants to much fanfare, with the expectation that he would be the missing piece in their Investec Champions Cup jigsaw.
Having missed out in three finals with Stuart Lancaster at the helm, he was backed to provide the mental resolve and defensive resilience to get them over the line.
However, Leinster have once again fallen short over the past three seasons and Nienaber refused to commit beyond 2025/26.
Criticism in wake of Champions Cup loss
There has been criticism from the supporters online while Irish Independent journalist Ruaidhri O’Connor once wrote a column stating that the Irish giants had “made a deal with the devil”.
Despite it being from January 2025, that wording has evidently rankled with the South African.
“If, like he said, I’m ‘a devil’… So if it’s according to him, probably not,” he said when asked it he would definitely be remaining at Leinster.
Nienaber’s contract expires in 2027 and he “hopes” to see it out but, in a remarkable press conference, the 53-year-old intimated that he could be forced out.
“Let me put it to you this way. Who fires you? Do you know who fires you? The public, the media, they fire you,” he added.
“Not the CEO, not Shane [Nolan, Leinster CEO]. He doesn’t fire me, but you guys fire us, fire all coaches, because the pressure builds up and builds up, and the fans then build the pressure on them, and then they [the board] just ask this and say, ‘listen lads, I think we must part ways’.
“When I say you guys, I’m saying the media. There’s a misconception that people get fired by the CEOs. That is because of pressure put on CEOs by the boards, by people listening.
“Let’s say the board member has dinner with his mates and his friends, and they go, ‘Sheesh, that Nienaber, you signed a deal with the devil, man’. I’m quoting Ruadhri there: ‘You signed a deal with the devil, you need to get rid of that devil, he’s killing Irish rugby’. That is how you get fired.
“So your question is, listen, am I going to be here? I hope so, OK. Currently I’m not sure, to be honest.
“I don’t think people value me here. They don’t value me here. They don’t.”
Fan reaction
Nienaber and head coach Leo Cullen have bore the brunt of the criticism and the South African admitted that the role of the fans will be crucial as to whether he stays.
“It’s not for Leo [to value me]. People don’t value…. The moment you lose the team or the fan, you’ve got to go. The moment you lose the changing room or the club, the fan-base you’ve got to go.
“You could just hang there and take your cheque, but no. They don’t want you there.
“I’ve been here three years, coached two finals and a semi-final of Europe. One semi-final loss, two final losses. URC; semi-final and a final. Won one.
“Listen, I can only fight through results, can’t I? I’m asking, am I that s***?”
“You say ‘you’re making the deal with the devil, this risk isn’t paying off’. Are you supporting me?”
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