Springboks legend weighs into Jacques Nienaber’s future and ‘spying’ suggestions: ‘South African fans are probably the greatest conspiracy theorists’
Ex-Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber and an inset of Rassie Erasmus
Former Springboks captain John Smit would not be surprised if Jacques Nienaber finds himself back in the South African set-up under Rassie Erasmus.
The 53-year-old has been at Leinster since the conclusion of the 2023 Rugby World Cup but doubts were raised about his future after he stated that he didn’t feel “valued” at the Irish province.
Leo Cullen’s men did go on to lift the United Rugby Championship title and that talk has since cooled, but it has not been categorically confirmed that he will remain in Dublin.
Given Erasmus’ mischievousness, some have claimed that it is a ploy for Nienaber to go to Ireland, steal their secrets and then return to the Springboks.
While Smit does not necessarily buy into that conspiracy theory, he has not ruled out the defence guru heading back to the Republic.
Erasmus’ and Nienaber’s ‘history’
“South African fans are probably the greatest conspiracy theorists of all time,” he told The Rugby Pod. “What you have to realise is Rassie and Jacques started together a long, long time ago with Jacques being the physio and they’ve had a huge history together.
“Have I heard anything officially about it? No. Is it completely out of the question? No. I think it will depend.”
Nienaber has been criticised for Leinster’s inability to win the Investec Champions Cup and that has played a key role in his unhappiness.
“When I say that Jacques hasn’t seemed settled, he seems to have done pretty well but I’m looking at it as an outsider into the Irish game,” Smith said.
“Unless he’s winning trophies, he’s having a pretty hard time from the locals and I think that’s pretty much the beef when you’re an international foreign coach in a different country – you’re either winning or you’re a spy.
“That just seems to be the way it is. Now he wins a trophy and he hasn’t been mocked in the media for the last couple of weeks.
“I do think that Jacques went there with the intention of winning multiple trophies and they’re a team that’s got the potential to do that.
“If he got bombed, would I be surprised to see him in the Springboks set-up? Not at all. It’s where he’s really solidified his coaching career. The question is if there’s space. There’s a large coaching staff in Rassie’s team and they’re bloody good.”
The ‘grey area’ in coaching
Ideas have always been shared across the world and Smit believes that it is a “grey area” when it comes to how much coaches give away when going from team to team.
“It’s quite a grey area for coaches. You’ve got to think about it; are they in contact? I should certainly hope so, they’ve spent the better part of 10 to 15 years coaching together, they’re friends, I’m pretty sure they’ve stayed in touch,” he said.
“You then look at the grey area of what does Tony Brown take back to the All Black camp? You’ve then got to look at it internally; why is it that we’ve got two or three international coaches from other international groups? We’ve got an England analyst.
“I would say coaches want as much information as as possible, but I also guess that there’s a moral line of how much of the code you break from a group that you’ve gone to, you’ve succeeded in and done well for, to what you take to the other side.”
READ MORE: Sir Steve Hansen: Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks are misleading everyone about how they want to play
