'I never thought it would be easy' - Nienaber on Leinster Croke Park display

Leinster’s Jacques Nienaber file photo .

IT ENDED UP being a much tighter affair than the opening 43 minutes might have suggested it would be, but Jacques Nienaber has insisted he isn’t overly concerned with how Leinster closed out their European Champions Cup semi-final win over Northampton Saints at a sold-out Croke Park on Saturday.

When James Lowe completed a hat-trick of tries in the early stages of the second half at GAA HQ last weekend, the Irish province led their English counterparts by 17 points (20-3) and appeared on course for a convincing passage to the competition’s showpiece decider at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Yet converted scores from George Hendy and Tom Seabrook brought Premiership Rugby pace-setters Northampton roaring back into contention and Leinster were forced to dig deep before their qualification for a third consecutive Champions Cup final was assured.

However, while he readily acknowledges there are elements of their game that could have been better, Nienaber was keen to state that semi-finals are all about getting over the line.

“My thought during the whole game was, listen, we need to win this game. That’s the thing about semis and that’s what makes semi-finals such a difficult game. Just we need to get a win and I never thought it would be easy. Even at 50 minutes I didn’t think it was easy.

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“I mean, nobody buried them, has any team buried them? They are not a team that gets put away quickly and that’s the thing, we knew that’s them,” the Leinster senior head coach remarked.

“They’re a quality outfit and they’re not top of the Premiership for nothing. They’re a classy outfit. There were maybe opportunities that we had that we could have done better in the game and we looked at that and we have to fix that. There’s a lot to fix from our side.

“Was there things that we could have done better? Yes. Was there things that we did well? Yes. I think the way we closed out the game in the last four minutes was good.”

Speaking at a media briefing in UCD yesterday, Nienaber also elaborated a little further on what Leinster will need to fine tune ahead of their Champions Cup final duel with Toulouse – as well as for the business end of the United Rugby Championship.

“In my mind, honestly, I don’t know where we are statistically, but we scored three tries [against Northampton]. They only got two and I think they’re probably one of the better attacking sides out there. Is there stuff that we can work on? Yes, definitely. We showed the guys this morning, there is definitely stuff that we can improve on in attack.

“There is definitely some stuff that we can improve on in our kicking game. There is a lot of stuff we can improve on in our defence. There is a lot of stuff that we can improve on in our set-piece. I think we’re not the finished product at all. In fairness, when we reviewed the game with the players, they said ‘there is a lot that we can get better at’.

“As a coaching group, we know that and as a playing group, we know that. We’ve got seven weeks until the end of the season and we’ve got seven weeks to make sure we get better at those things, but we’re not the finished product at all.”

While he was keeping one eye on Toulouse’s own semi-final triumph over Harlequins at the weekend, Nienaber primarily dedicated his Sunday afternoon to both reviewing the Northampton game and identifying the threats that Ospreys will present in round 16 of the United Rugby Championship at the RDS this coming Saturday.

Leinster will also face interprovincial rivals Ulster in Belfast seven days later as they aim to regain momentum in the URC following their recent reversals to the Lions and the Stormers in South Africa. Although there might be a temptation for players to become distracted by the spectre of a crunch European clash against Toulouse rather than those upcoming league games, Nienaber believes this won’t be the case for this Leinster group.

“I said it to the lads. You can lift your head and look there at the horizon, and you will fall over the stone right in front of your face, and fall on your nose. You’re only as good as your last game. For us, we spoke about it in the changing room. Let’s enjoy the win, let’s enjoy each other’s company, but it can’t be a big party night. You can’t go out,” Nienaber added.

“We enjoyed each other’s company within the environment, within the changing room, but when we go out there on Sunday, do your recovery. We’re going to play Ospreys next. It’s always a challenge, but they’re professional rugby players and that is what they’ll need to do.”