Jacques Nienaber: Leinster haven't been neglecting attack

Jacques Nienaber says Leinster are not focusing on defence at the expense of their attack since his arrival at the province in December.

The former South Africa head coach arrived at the province late last year with a reputation as a defence specialist after helping the Springboks to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2019 and 2023.

The province have noticeably shifted to a more aggressive defensive line in the months since his arrival, as they look to implement his gameplan, which has worked to great effect at times this season.

The province held Toulouse try-less until extra-time in Saturday's Investec Champions Cup final defeat, and limited the French side to very few try-scoring opportunities, but were left to rue a profligate attack, which returned just 16 points from 17 entries to the Toulouse 22.

Having had a reputation for being one of the most exciting attacking sides in Europe for the last number of seasons, Leinster's attacking gameplan had been questioned even prior to Saturday's defeat, with suggestions that the new defensive strategy was resulting in less time devoted to their attacking game on the training pitch.

However, Nienaber says he hasn't made any changes to the flow of how the province were training before his arrival in December.

"When I got here, I thought there was two ways of doing things," the senior coach (below) told RTÉ Sport.

"You can come in and say, 'I prefer the week to flow like this, because it worked when I was with the Springboks, this is how the week-flow went, in terms of sessions, kicking game, defence, attack'.

"Or, I just slot in with how the flow went within Leinster. I chose to go that route, because I always knew how it worked with the Boks and previous teams I was involved in, but I