JACQUES Nienaber hopes to lead the Springboks to a fourth World Cup victory in 2023, but he’s a family man off the pitch.
Who is he and who is his wife? Here's what we know.
Who is Jacques Nienaber?
Jacques Nienaber is the head coach of the South Africa national rugby team.
He has held the position since January 2020.
Jacques led the defending champions to a nail-biting 29-28 quarter-final victory over the French hosts, and will face England in the semi-final on Saturday, October 21, 2023.
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Born in Kimberly, Cape Province, on October 16, 1972, Jacques grew up in Welkom and Bloemfontein, where he attended the prestigious rugby school Grey College.
The school has turned out scores of rugby stars, including Springbok 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, the Springboks' director of rugby, while completing his obligatory military service in South Africa in the early 1990s, with the pair remaining close ever since.
While Rassie went on to play rugby for the Free State and the national team, Nienaber opted 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 took up the post of director of rugby at Munster, he brought in Nienaber as defence coach.
The duo moved to the South African national team in 2018, with Nienaber taking the reigns as head coach in 2020, after Rassie moved into a directorial role.
Erasmus said: “[Jacques’] passion, knowledge and work ethic around defence was evident even back then.
“He’s very good with people and in terms of communicating what he wants."
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Nienaber is hoping to take South Africa to a second successive Rugby World Cup win in France, after the side defeated England in the final in 2019.
He is then set to leave the Springboks for Ireland, where he will coach top team Leinster, where Johnny Sexton is captain.
Who is Jacques Nienaber's wife, Elmarie?
Nienaber met his wife, Elmarie, while studying physiotherapy at university.
Elmarie continues to work as a physiotherapist with her own practice.
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 and daughter Lilo.
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.
