PLAYING JAC IN THE BOKS

Nienaber hints at third world title tilt with South Africa

- BY GARRY DOYLE

JACQUES NIENABER isn’t ducking anything.

No cryptic hints, no backroom whispers, no secret deals.

The Leinster head coach has put it out there in plain language: he is seeing out his contract.

But once it ends in 2027?

Well... he'll be “looking for work”, and he didn’t exactly deny the possibility of a Springbok reunion with Rassie Erasmus (inset) for a third World Cup tilt.

Nienaber, never one for theatrics, spelled it out.

“My contract with Leinster runs until the end of the 2027 season,’ he said. “That is June or July. That is when my contract finishes. That is common knowledge”

No mystery. No drama.

But when he was asked what happens after that, he gave an answer that lit up every newsroom from Dublin to Pretoria.

“I don't know. I can't tell you what will happen then. I literally can't predict what will happen after that”

And then came the line that turbocharged the speculation machine:

“When my contract finishes... I must actually get a job. Hopefully I will get a job after my contract expires with Leinster”

Anyone who has followed South African rugby knows exactly where hed find one.

Nienaber and Erasmus are rugby's most formidable double-act — bonded by years, titles and the trauma of 2016.