‘No way that motherf**ker will get over’ – the ‘Boksification’ of Leinster under supercoach Jacques Nienaber
Senior coach Jacques Nienaber during a Leinster captain's run at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Photo: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
“Offence sells tickets, defence wins championships.” The maxim is credited to Bear Bryant, one of American college football’s iconic coaches. It may have been weighing heavy on Leinster before this season. Selling tickets was not their problem.
Despite producing mesmeric passages of attack, with Stuart Lancaster helping hone handling skills and collective synergy, Leinster had finished each of the previous two campaigns without a trophy. Losses to La Rochelle in two consecutive Champions Cup finals, by three points in 2022 and a single point in 2023, were particularly galling.
