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Johann van Grann eyes Nienaber replacement
By RugbyPass
Munster head coach Johann van Grann is understood to be in talks with Lions defence coach JP Ferreira to join the team in Limerick.
As van Graan settles in as Rassie Erasmus' successor, it was initially believed that he would handle the defence duties himself until the end of the season, but he has since stated he is keen to fill the gap left by Jacques Nienaber as soon as possible.
“There’s one or two names as possibilities but I want to make sure that I get the right person here that will fit in with the way Munster do things,” he said last week.
“We’re thankful for Joe (Schmidt) - we’ve been in contact all along, Andy (Farrell) is here for today and tomorrow. The good thing is there was 14 players in the Irish squad. He and Jacques (Nienaber) also worked together pretty closely."
Ferreira has been at the Lions in Johannesburg since 2007 and has survived the coming and going of four head coaches in his time there. He was credited as being a critical figure in the Lions run to the Super Rugby final in 2016. He was also involved with the Springboks on their November tour last year when he would have worked with Van Graan.
Originally a video analyst with the Falcons in Gauteng, Ferreira graduated to the defence role after moving to the Lions. “He’s well respected and a very down to earth guy,” a former colleague of Ferreira said this morning. “I always expected Van Graan to fill that defence role as soon as possible because of the influence of Jacques Nienaber there. If it (negotiations) works out for both parties I’d say he’ll do a good job for Munster.”
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Latest Comments
Yet Ethan Blackadder was one of our best against the World Champion Springbok. When he came back to the Crusaders later in the season , he made a huge difference, ( a long with others like Codie Taylor), we nearly made the Play Off's. Ethan has plenty of rugby left in him. His family , Dad Todd Blackadder must be very [proud of him. Todd Blackadder was a 3 time champion captain of the Crusaders, '98, '99 and 2000.An icon in this area. Also twice captain of Canterbury , '97 and 2001 when we won the NPC and Ranfurly Shield winning captain in 2000.
Go to commentsIt's the same criticism of Dmac and Mo'unga as well. Sadly the way the game has been heading recently it's the only way to break down a defence, and a player of Lawrences nature would have a very limited chance at doing that because he's too one dimensional.
Noah Lolesio is your sort of player and that worked OK, but only because his team is far more creative than Englands for example. The highly organized Irish attack was also another that didn't require much from the 10, but that is now changing with Prendergast who is in that league mold like the most new age 10's.
So it is in fact your two which would require even more change to make the most of than Marcus Smith.
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