Siya Kolisi hooks up former Bok coach with Liverpool experience

For the Springboks, winning the World Cup was simply a fairytale farewell for Jacques Nienaber, who hast left his position as head coach after seeing Siya Kolisi lift the Webb Ellis Cup for the second time in succession.

Nienaber has opted to further his career at Leinster, where he has replaced Stuart Lancaster as a senior coach, but notably also used his time overseas to make the trip to watch a Liverpool match.

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Siya Kolisi is known to be a massive Liverpool fan, and has a close relationship with manager Jurgen Klopp.

In a social media post this week, Nienaber took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to thanks Kolisi for “sorting him out” with an “unbelievable experience” at the Liverpool game.

Unbelievable experience. Thanks for sorting me out @SiyaKolisi pic.twitter.com/RHG20r0jLt

— Jacques Nienaber (@jacnienaber) February 1, 2024

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NIENABER AND SIYA KOLISI HAVE A CLOSE FRIENDSHIP

Nienaber has been in charge of 39 Tests as head coach, with a win percentage of 68.

Nienaber’s involvement with SA Rugby and the Boks date back more than a decade to 2011, when he joined the national coaching team as a defensive consultant in 2011.

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The 51-year-old Nienaber was part of the Bok management at the Rugby World Cup in 2011, worked as a member of SA Rugby’s Mobi Unit after that and joined the national coaching team again in 2018, before taking over as head coach in 2020 after the RWC triumph in Japan in 2019.

As Springbok head coach, Nienaber oversaw the series victory over the British & Irish Lions in 2021, with his crowning glory last Saturday when South Africa claimed back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles after a nail-biting final victory over the All Blacks in Paris.

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SPECIAL FAREWELL TO THE FORMER COACH

Kolisi, who was named Springbok captain for the first time in 2018 and led South Africa for the 53rd time in the RWC final, was full of adulation for Nienaber and the entire management after the match.

“It hasn’t been an easy journey – I can’t believe what we’ve achieved,” said Kolisi.

“The coaching staff have been ridiculous. I have worked with Jacques since I was 17 years old. I couldn’t tackle. When him and Rassie [Erasmus] used to come to training [at DHL Western Province] it was full contact. You had to show that you could do this.

“Since then, it’s just been amazing how he used to motivate us in games. We grew up around him – me and Frans [Malherbe], Steven [Kitshoff] and Pieter-Steph [du Toit].

“As I said last week, he cared about us as people. He would ask, ‘are you going to let your daughter down, your son down?’ It became far deeper than just a rugby game.

“Jacques, honestly, it’s been a huge honour for me and a huge privilege. To you and your wife and the kids, I appreciate you.

“We love you as a team, not as a coach, but as a person. You’ve taken it to another level. The way you speak to us – it’s not ‘make a big hit, make a tackle’, you talk to me as a person, as a father, a husband, as a son, it goes such a long way so thank you. We honour you as a team. All the best. They will be lucky too have you wherever you go.”

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