‘A lot of stuff that we can improve’ – Jacques Nienaber admits Leinster ‘not the finished product at all’

With the Saints alive, Leinster couldn’t afford to sin at the game’s final ruck; to some, it appeared they were even unwilling to commit, as English bodies sensed a turnover when Dan Sheehan seemed to be momentarily abandoned by his team.

Perhaps it was the collective muscle memories of those anxious supporters surrounding us on Saturday in those gasping, gulping final throes.

Two years without a trophy can prompt palpitations such as these, especially after the trauma of last year’s final implosion, renewing fears that defeat might supplant progression at the death.

They were still speaking about that last ruck in the Dublin pubs towards midnight; when Leinster waited, then pounced, to wrestle possession away from the final of the 200 and more shemozzles on the floor.

“Good decision there! Spot on!” trumpets assistant coach Jacques Nienaber, who broke down that breakdown in his review and, reflecting his view of the game, denied the view held by some of his side’s fans that Leinster had almost paid the price for near-fatal caution.

“No, if you analyse the game. Remember, you can attack the game in various ways. People think when you attack the game, you attack. But sometimes you don’t have the ball.

​“So, in my mind, did we attack the game when Caelan Doris and Jack Conan went for the poach? Full-on attack because that was the window of opportunity that was there, a defensive opportunity that was there.

“They attacked that opportunity with everything they had. Even when we had a line-break when we attacked for 19 phases and we turned the ball over and they counter-attacked.

“We had opportunities to attack with ball in hand, then we coughed the ball up – which was poor execution – and now we have to attack it with our defence. So, there are different ways of attacking the game in mind.

“We didn’t go into containment mode, we attacked with or without the ball.”

Nienaber does admit his team can and must improve, as Toulouse and a potential title double lie in wait.

“We showed there is definitely stuff that we can improve on in attack,” he says, again citing execution.

“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.”​