4 days ago
Irish 'masters' of sledging - Jacques Nienaber plays down Sharks-Munster end-game
Jacques Nienaber scoffed at the suggestion that Irish players aren't as adept at sledging and rugby's dark arts as their South African counterparts when asked about Munster's exit from the URC at the hands of Sharks.
Munster drew 24-24 with the Durban-based side in Saturday's quarter-final, but lost out 6-4 in the place-kicking shootout after extra time.
The game had plenty of niggle and bite and some have suggested that Jaden Hendrikse (below) crossed the line when he went down with cramp following his second kick.
The scrum-half fell to the ground and received attention after what was a gruelling 100 minutes of rugby.
However, he was lying too close to Munster kicker Jack Crowley's line, according to the referee, and appeared to wink at the out-half when the medical staff arrived on the scene.
Crowley, for his part, was happy to continue but had to wait almost two and a half minutes before landing the kick.
The Ireland back was seen exchanging angry words with the Sharks medical staff after the kick.
Former Springboks head coach Nienaber, under whom Hendrikse won most of the 20 international caps, was asked about the incident but said it was all part of the game.
"No [I don't make much of it]," the Leinster senior coach, whose side face Glasgow Warriors in the semi-finals, told RTÉ Sport
"If you listen to the referee's mic in a game without the commentary, you can just listen to what happens on the field, I mean there's a lot of that happening in the game.
"It's probably because it's silent and quite and very individualised [during the shootout], it's more static and it's probably elevated.
"The banter, the craic, or whatever you want to call it, trying to get into opposition heads is something that happens throughout the game.
"You try to do it physically, you try to do it with your mouth, you try to do it at set-piece, a lot of things, rubbing guys' hair, faces in the ground, it happens throughout the 80 minutes."
Asked if he found that Irish players were just as good at dishing it out, he laughed and remembered the furore over an incident during Ireland's win in the second Test against New Zealand in 2022 when Peter O'Mahony called Sam Cane "a s*** Richie McCaw".
The 52-year-old said: "You are masters at it, the Irish, 'craic', isn't that the word you use? The Irish have never fell on their mouths, ever.
"You ask if Irish players do it [as much]? Wasn't there a thing about Pete [O'Mahony] and Sam Cane?
"So there's your answer."
Leinster, who beat Scarlets 33-21 at the weekend, play Warriors at Aviva Stadium on Saturday (2.45pm, live on RTÉ) with the prize of a Croke Park Grand Final against Bulls or Sharks on the line.
Nienaber said that practicing kicks, in the event of a tie after extra-time, is part of their routine during the knockout season.
He said: "Not just for this week. It was the same for Europe in the knockout games. It's been something that's living within the team since the Six Nations."
Glasgow impressed in a five-try win over Stormers last Friday and ran Leinster close when the sides met in a dead rubber URC fixture over two weeks ago.
Having lost their Champions Cup tie 52-0 in April, the 13-5 defeat showed clear improvement and Nienaber is expecting another close clash against the defending champions.
"It's completely different than the league stages," he said.
"They are a team that relish this stage of the competition.
"They are striking quite some form as you can see.
"With the teams that get through to the semi-finals and finals of big competitions, there's not one big area that's a particular threat.
"I don't think they had a lot of lineouts [against Stormers] but the ones they got, they capitalised on.
"They had to launch attacks from other positions, that's the quality of Glasgow."
