JACQUES Nienaber hopes to lead the Spring Boks to a fourth World Cup victory, but he’s a family man off the pitch.
Who is he and who is his wife? Here’s what we know.
APSouth Africa’s head coach Jacques Nienaber before the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris. Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023.[/caption]
Who is Jacques Nienaber?
Jacques Nienaber is the 51-year-old head coach of the South Africa national rugby team.
Jacques Nienaber led the defending champions to a nail-biting 29-28 quarter-final victory over the French hosts and will face England in a semi-final on Saturday, 21 October.
Born in Kimberly, Cape Province, Jacques grew up in Welkom and Bloemfontein, where he attended the prestigious Rugby school Grey College.
The famous Rugby school has turned out scores of Rugby stars, including Spring Bok World Cup winners Ruan Pienaar, Frans Steyn, Bismarck and Jannie Du Plessis and Cobus Reinach.
At Grey College, Jacques was a stronger cross-country runner than a rugby player and played for the school’s seventh team.
Jacques met Johan “Rassie” Erasmus Spring Bok’s coach turned while completing his obligatory military service in South Africa in the early 1990s, the pair have been close ever since.
While Rassie went on to play Rugby for the Free State and the national team, Nienaber didn’t have ambitions to play professionally, or even coach, opting to study physiotherapy at the University of the Free State, where he met his wife.
He started his career as a physio with the Free State Cheetahs but moved into coaching roles at Stormers and Western Province.
When Rassie Erasmus took up a post as director of rugby at Munster, he brought his right-hand man, Jacques, with him as defence coach.
The duo moved to the South African national team in 2018, with Jacques taking the reigns as head coach in 2020, after Erasmus moved into a directorial role.
“[Jacques’] passion, knowledge and work ethic around defence was evident even back then,” said Erasmus.
“He’s very good with people and in terms of communicating what he wants,” he added.
After the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, Jacques is set to leave the Spring Boks for Ireland, where he will coach top team Leinster, where Johnny Sexton is captain.
Who is Jacques Nienaber’s wife, Elmarie?
Jacques met his wife, Elmarie, while studying physiotherapy at university.
Elmarie continues to work as a physiotherapist with her own practice, while Jacques has taken his career in a different direction,
The pair have been married for twenty years, and although she keeps a low profile without much social media presence, Elmarie is often seen at matches cheering on the national side.
Do Jacques and Elmarie Nienaber have children together?
Jacques and Elmarie have two children together, son Carlo, 16, and daughter Lilo, 12.
It’s not known whether Elmarie and the children will join Jacques in Ireland at the end of the World Cup when he takes up his new head coach position at Leinster.