All posts in category Leinster

Good Week, Bad Week

We feel like Gerry when discussing the Ireland side – is there ever a dull weekend in the HEC? This weekend’s action was unmissable from first to last – from the new Willie John McBride, Iain Henderson, to the two Sunday games in la sud de France, it never stopped. What do we think?

McCafferty Gets it Wrong

Quelle surprise, one might say. McCafferty’s argument that the uncompetitive nature of the Pro12 allows the Celts to target the HEC games,which (naturally) disadvantages the English was hilariously undermined by his own clients. Saracens absolutely thrashed last years semi-finalists Embra on their own turf, while the Saints came back from what looked like the dead to beat Glasgow, also with a bonus point. Quins overcame the loss of Nuck Ivans to get their own 5-pointer against boring bosh-merchants Biarritz, putting them firmly in control of their pool (and it’s only Round One!). Even Sale, winless domestically, managed to win a game.  But the Premiership performance of the weekend was arguably Exeter Chiefs, who went to the RDS and did everything but beat double champions Leinster – they were desperately unlucky to come away empty-handed.

Over Before It Begins?

This weekend saw the flattest pair of Leinster and Munster displays in Europe in a very long time. And now both are up against the wall, facing must-win games next week. If Leinster lose to the Scarlets and get a bonus point, they will have 5 points. With the maximum realistic achievable points tally against Clermont another 5, that would leave them needing 10 from their last two games to give themselves a shot at qualification – a tall order even if they are back at their best. But that assumes Clermont will win in Exeter, and that won’t be easy.  We said it already; Round Two in this pool is going to be defining.

In Munster’s case, not only did they let Racing back into the game – twice – but Saracens full tally in Embra means Munster simply cannot lose when the Scots come to town.

Leinster badly need some oomph, a bit of wallop.  They’re not an especially big team and nor are they especially quick.  They don’t have a Nick Williams type figure that they can repeatedly go to for big carries.  Nor do they have a Timbo Visser they can work the ball to in wide channels to wreak havoc.  They’re all about accuracy – both at the breakdown and in their passing.  When they get it right, they reach a pace and skill level that no team can live with, but when they’re off their game they don’t have much else to fall back on.  They just have to keep trying.  On this occasion, their performance was reminiscent of the last season under Cheika, and eerily similar to the defeat to London Irish, and almost had a similar outcome.

Allez Les Big French Trois

Toulon, Toulouse, Clermont.  Les grandes French teams cest up and running.  Clermont and Toulon got themselves le bonus point wins at home, while Toulouse, without being particularly brilliant, ground Leicester into the dirt in manky conditions.  They lack the flair of past vintages, but they remain a credible force.  And they’ve an 18 year old kiddo (Gael Fickou) at centre who announced himself emphatically with a memorable try.  All three are going to be big threats.  As pour le reste, Castres et Montpellier offered up their usual resistance, but Racing Metro somehow sneaked a win.  We’ve always suspected Olly Barkley was a better player than he’s given credit for, and he was the coolest man in the ground, and the matchwinner, if not quite playing in the style to which he has become known.

Ulster on the march… just about

They did their best not to deliver a bonus point, but ultimately, Castres let Ulster have one with one of the silliest pieces of play we’ve ever seen.  Those who can remember back as far as the 2007/08 season might recall a fairly frazzled Leinster doing precisely the same thing against Toulouse.  All that said, it wasn’t a bad effort considering they had a stitched together back row, with only Chris Henry close to being a first team regular.  The match was notable for a couple of performances.  Paul Marshall is an absolute livewire.  Can they leave him out?  And Iain Henderson had a Heineken Cup debut to remember.  Big carries, big hits, bags of pace and all while out of position and at just 20 years old.  We don’t want to overhype him, but… dude is going to be some player.

It’s Open

Last year Clermont were the only credible challengers to Leinster.  Too many others were out of sorts, bedevilled by injury or in a ‘transitional period’.  Not this season.  For a start, Leinster look a notch below last season’s level, but there are plenty of sides who could go on to win it.  We’ll know a bit more next week, but right now Harlequins, Saracens, Ulster, Northampton, Toulon, Toulouse, Clermont and perhaps Ospreys all look capable of going the distance.  Leicester and Munster won’t rule themselves out despite poor starts.  It could be the best Heineken Cup in years.

by whiffofcordite on October 15, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in HEC, Leinster, Munster, Ulster

Posted by whiffofcordite on October 15, 2012

https://whiffofcordite.com/2012/10/15/good-week-bad-week/

Heineken Cup Preview: Pool 5

Teams: Leinster, Clermont Auvergne, Llanelli Scarlets and Exeter

McCafferty Unfairness Factor: None!  Meritocratic qualifiers all.  Aside from the fact that Leinster and Scarlets will have cigars out in their namby pamby Pro12 while Clermont and Exeter will be locked in trench warfare in seeking to avoid relegation.  Gah!

Verdict:  Leinster.  Meet Clermont.  Ah, you know each other already.  Remarkably, this is the fourth consecutive season these two European heavyweights have crashed into one another.  And in the two seasons prior Clermont ran into a Munster side close to their peak.  Tough break, but it is making for one of the best pan-European rivalries around.  The games between Clermont and Leinster have generally been riveting and this season should be no different.

This is a hard group from top to bottom, though, and not just a two-way shoot-out.  Exeter’s progress from Championship dwellers to European qualifiers has been astounding.  While qualifying from the pool will be beyond them, nobody should take a trip to their atmospheric Sandy Park stadium lightly.

And what of Scarlets, the most enigmatic of Wales’ enigmatic regional teams?  They play with great panache and can score from anywhere, but the great breakthrough we’ve been anticipating has yet to happen.  Last year they found themselves two from two after winning in Northampton – the pool looked there for the taking, but they couldn’t muster a home win against an injury-stricken Munster.  They’ve recruited to bolster the tight five – their achilles heel – but will it be good enough to stay with the big boys?  And what of Rhys Priestland, their mercurial fly-half?  We’ve yet to see enough to convince us he’s any more than a flash in the pan.  We just don’t know how they’ll do.

They start the pool with a trip to the Marcel Michelin, where Clermont will win all their home games, but question marks remain over their away form.  For a European powerhouse, their away record is dismal.  Last year’s deconstruction of Saracens looked to have set the record straight, but it will pale beside a trip to the Palindrome in Decmeber, where Leinster have grown to feel very comfortable.  Their awesome power, great depth and monstrous backs require no further discussion here.

So, to Leinster.  Back-to-back champions, the attacking supremos, looking for a hat-trick in their own back yard, but is this one step too far?  They’re without Sean O’Brien for the first two rounds, their backline is injured and they have failed to plug the gap left by Nathan Hines and then Brad Thorn in the second row.  Without Thorn, can they match the power of Clermont?  Add to this a curiously leaky defence, and it’s time to get edgy.

There’s a growing feeling that this is the season Clermont finally get on top of the champions.  Leinster’s injury list is crippling and just how close Clermont came to winning that semi-final in Bordeaux is fresh in everyone’s memory.  Clermont will be deperate to finally put one over on them.

It’s possible that both wil get out of the pool, but that (and much else) will depend hugely on what happens in week two.  In that round, Leinster travel to Llanelli and Clermont to Exeter.  We’ll see just how much appetite Clermont have for digging out a result in an obscure corner of Europe.  Assuming they beat Llanelli in round one also, a win will put them in the position of aiming to be three from three when Leinster roll into town in December, which would leave them in control of the pool.

To hang on to their coat-tails, Leinster would need to win in Llanelli.  This Scarlets team is primed to pounce on the sort of soft defence Leinster have put up in recent weeks – indeed they have already done so this season.  It’s a very difficult looking fixture for the champions, especially with their injury list.  It’s going to be a case of hanging in there, trying to sneak the win and hoping that they can get their best team out in December.

Verdict: We’re going to say Leinster and Clermont to qualify, but with reservations.  Ordinarily in a pool with two very strong teams, the head-to-head dictates the outcome, but we’re identifying Round Two’s tricky away games as the key week.  If they both get through those, they can split the points on the head-to-head and both should qualify, with bonus points sorting out the order. Leinster probably deserve some trust after the last 2 years, but the absence of a beastly second might just mean Clermont to win the pool, Leinster through as a best runner-up.

by whiffofcordite on October 11, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Clermont, HEC, Leinster, Uncategorized

Posted by whiffofcordite on October 11, 2012

https://whiffofcordite.com/2012/10/11/heineken-cup-preview-pool-5/

Cultural Learnings from the Pro12

Lucky Generals

Ulster had a neat win over Connacht on Friday night, built largely off their imposing pack – the Westerners scrum was demolished and the breakdown was owned by the Ulstermen. Still, they only scored three tries, and rarely managed to get their silky backs on the ball in the Connacht 22. For all their power, they still lack some fluidity, which is a mild concern when bonus points are so important in the HEC and Castres at home is such a clear candidate for one. Paul Marshall and Paddy Jackson both had decent games, but neither grabbed it by the scruff of the neck to really capitalise on their pack’s dominance – Ulster look in need of a general in the halfbacks. Of course, Ruan Pienaar will be back, but he is surely going to be rested for the Castres game, and probably the Glasgae one too. Fez and Chris Henry getting up to full power will help too, with setting targets and linking play respectively. Let’s not worry just yet, but monstrous packs without domineering halves is not a recipe for silverware (see: Clermont, Northampton).

He Did the Mash.  He Did the Monster Mash

As for Nick Williams, the monster-man keeps eating up the yardage.  If he can stay on this level, Ulster have got themselves the signing of the year.  More astute observers than ourselves pointed out we were too dismissive of him in our pre-season analysis.  The only question is: can he sustain it?  We’re not eating humble pie just yet but we’ve the oven at 180 and we’re rolling out the pastry.

HEC Build-up

We’ll be starting our HEC previews this week, but how did the provinces opponents do this week? Exeter will go to the RDS with a pep in their step after a bonus point 42-28 win over Premiership champions Quins. Connacht’s opponents Zebre lost (again), this time at home to the Ospreys – they have yet to win a game in their new incarnation, but there is no doubt they will be targeting Connacht. Result of the week in France was Castres win over Clermont – but the perennial HEC bunnies were at home and playing domestically – lets see how many of that XV line up in Ravers on Friday night. Fellow bosh-merchants, and Ligind hosts Racing Metro lost at home to best-of-the-rest Montpellier on Saturday – they’ll be looking to grind Munster into the dirt up front, and tot up points in 3s.

Referee Rant

We hate to come over all Gerry, but the standard of refereeing the 2 inter-pros left a lot to be desired – first uber-pedant Clancy on Friday night, then some laughable ineptitude from the Aviva officials on Saturday. Two incidents in particular rankled:

  • Just prior to Ulster’s penalty try, Clancy binned Dave Gannon for collapsing a maul. Ulster motored over in the next phase (roughly concurrent to Clancy blowing the whistle, but before Connacht had stopped playing), so had he played advantage they would have scored. The penalty try rule says this: “A penalty try is awarded if a try would probably have been scored but for foul play by the defending team.” – given that the probability of Ulster scoring a try was 100% (they did get over), why didn’t Clancy give one? They (inevitably) got one a few phases later, but that is not the point,
  • Conor Murray sniped round the side of a pile of forwards and dotted down effortlessly right under the nose of the touchjudge. Literally, right under his nose. So why did he need to go upstairs? It’s bad enough when pushover tries don’t get given because the referee abdicates responsibility to a man who simply cannot see a grounding, but sending such obvious incidents upstairs is just incompetent – make the decisions you get paid for, guys.

Note: the Pro12 still operates under the old rules, so the ref could not have gone upstairs for the later Laulala no-try – it would probably the wrong call, but that’s just plain old bad call as opposed to megalomania/incompetence.

[Aside: to the Premiership] Ooooooooooooooooohhh

After the Ulster game on Friday night, we switched to Sky to watch the last 20 minutes of Sale-Leicester. Holy Lord, how bad are the Sharks? And what is Richie Grey doing there? The standard of rugby was terrible, and we saw pretty much every type of unforced error from the Northerners in an embarrassingly short spell. Leicester dealt with them with ease, and will be pleased to have such an easy lead-in to another shocker of a HEC pool.

McFadden and Earls – Ireland’s next centre partnership?

Saturday night’s entertaining derby match was enlivened by two strong performances from Ireland’s in-waiting centre partnership.  McFadden had perhaps his best game for Leinster, looking a more rounded player than ever before.  We all know he’s a dervish in contact and quick once he gets going, but his distribution looked a notch up from its usual fair-to-middling standard.  He’s likely to be shifted to the wing next week, given Leinster’s injury crisis in the outside back division and the impending return of Gordon D’arcy, but this showing at 12 will have been noted by his coaches.

In Paul O’Connell’s absence, Keith Earls has become Munster’s best player.  Always a lethal runner, he has added excellent passing to his reportoire and now looks at home in the 13 channel.  Munster’s best chance of progressing from the pool is to try and get him and Simon Zebo on the ball as often as they can.  To be fair, it looks like that’s how Penney has them set up, albeit with a kicking fly-half.  Which bring us along to…

Penney’s Out Half Conundrum

For the second week in a row, Munster looked more threatening once Rog was replaced by Ian Keatley.  Keatley’s the man in form and looks more geared to play the Penney way, playing as he does, flat on the gainline.  Penney should have started him against Leinster.  If he is to pit Keatley into action from the start in next week’s increasingly significant looking game against Racing Metro, he does so without any previous exposure to high intensity rugby.  This was the ideal opportunity to give him the chance to audition for the shirt.  We expect ROG to line out against Racing, the old head for the sleeves-rolled-up away assignment.  Keatley’s first Heiny Cup start could come the following week, in the more forgiving environs of a home game against Edinburgh.

Transition Time

After Munster’s excellent start to the Pro12, some of our more excitable followers posited that the transition had happened in Rob Penney’s two-week pre-season. Sadly, that has been exposed for the wishful thinking it was. With only Paul O’Connell to return (who is admittedly huge, but not a miracle worker), their pack is looking unfit for the purpose of getting their electric backs on the ball.

Dave Kilcoyne might be able to carry, but in the tight he is a wet blanket. Peter O’Mahony simply does not yet have the ball-carrying skills for an 8, and (as we suggested it would) the hype of last year has done him a disservice – a hard year’s work nailing down a shirt (probably 6) and learning his trade is required. Donnacha Ryan is an able worker, but no sort of replacement for POC – he hasn’t yet got to the stage where he can drag a team on his own will. There is a lot of work to be done, and its a multi-year job.  They’re on the right track for sure, but patience is still the order of the day.

by whiffofcordite on October 8, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in HEC, Leinster, Munster, Radge, Uncategorized

Posted by whiffofcordite on October 8, 2012

https://whiffofcordite.com/2012/10/08/cultural-learnings-from-the-pro12/

Stop Press: Paul O’Connell and Rob Kearney Really Important

Is it time to start getting worried about Leinster?  They’re three from five in the Pro12, which doesn’t sound all that bad, but the performance levels have been poor.  Friday night saw them lose five tries in Galway, and truth be told, they made a Connacht team which hasn’t started the season especially well look like world beaters (as only Leinster can).  It’s their second shellacking on the road after an opening day hammering in Llanelli.  In their other away match, with a strong line-up against Treviso, they were decidedly lucky to get out of jail with a late, long range drop goal by Johnny Sexton.

It’s eerily reminiscent of Schmidt’s first season in charge. Leinster have been leaky in defence, losing 18 tries in five matches.  That’s the worst in the league, three more than Zebre.  In attack they’ve played in fits and starts, and have been prone to throwing the ball forward with great regularity and they’ve been powder-puff in contact.

Leinster fans won’t be panicking just yet, because they remember what happened two years ago, when the team seemed to click into gear once the season proper got under way.  But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll happen the same way again.  In Schmidt’s first season, many were happy to put the upswing in fortunes to a sudden getting-the-hang of what Schmidt wanted them to do.  This was true, but the real reason was that they got their best players back.  Leinster’s season was transformed the moment Sexton and Reddan entered the pitch as substitutes against Munster, instantly picking up the tempo and securing a match-winning try for Brian O’Driscoll.

The concern this year is the lengthy injury list.  Sean O’Brien, Rhys Ruddock, David Kearney, Eoin O’Malley, Dom Ryan and Luke Fitzgerald are all long term casualties and Gordon D’arcy and Rob Kearney left the field of play on Friday, while Richardt Strauss continues to recover from his head injury picked up against Treviso.  Both Isaac Boss and Eoin Reddan are also missing.

Leinster’s back three looks particularly stretched, and if any of Kearney, D’arcy and Reddan were to be ruled out this weekend, it could leave Leinster badly exposed in a couple of positions.  Fionn Carr up against Doug Howlett and George North?  No thanks.  Rob Kearney would be an especially grievous loss, as he is the only big back Leinster have and the back-line would be pint-sized without him.  And the rumour mill on Leinsterfans has shifted into gear, and it’s not good news…

Meanwhile, in the red corner, some of the feel-good feeling associated with Rob Penney’s positive start was knocked out of them this weekend.  Once again, Ospreys laid bare full scale of the job in hand.  They bullied Munster out of the game (as an aside, how good is this Jason Tipuric fellow?).  While Munster’s work with the ball is much improved, the game underlined our one overriding concern about them – a lack of heft in the pack.  The sight of their maul being shunted backwards at a rate of knots will have been chastening for fans of a team which has long prided itself as being expert proponents of this attacking weapon.  The scrum was no better and served as an important reminder that anytime you hear a tighthead prop described as being ‘good in the loose’ you should be very suspicious of him (cf. Tony Buckley).  While Archer can truck the ball up for good yardage, it’s all for nought if he cannot stabilise the scrum.

Removing Archer from their team is therefore necessary, but that only compounds another problem – a lack of ball carriers.  With James Coughlan out injured, who is going to make the hard yards?

It was their second beating of the season, and as well as they played for much of the game against Ulster in their other defeat, there was an uncomfortable reality about elements of proceedings: after the first 20 minutes, Munster barely touched the ball (when they did, it was admittedly very incisive). As Gerry is prone to saying, they were living off scraps.

The trip to a bruising (if hardly inspiring) Racing Metro team looks a lot more difficult after saturday, although Racing have problems of their own.  Donnacha Ryan and POM made their comebacks from the bench this weekend, and are fine and important players, but neither have shown themselves capable of bending a match to their will.  It all serves to underline the vast importance of Paul O’Connell.  It’s been obvious for eons to anyone with half a brain that O’Connell is the key man in red, and without him, it’s genuinely difficult to see how they can beat the best teams.

There, we said it – Paul O’Connell and Rob Kearney are really, really imoprtant, and will be badly missed if not fit.  It might be obvious, we felt the need to say it anyway.

by whiffofcordite on October 1, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Leinster, Munster, Paul O'Connell, Rob Kearney

Posted by whiffofcordite on October 1, 2012

https://whiffofcordite.com/2012/10/01/stop-press-paul-oconnell-and-rob-kearney-really-important/

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Ian?

Saturday night saw another welcome development in the story of the precocious Ian Madigan.  Another Man of the Match display in a Pro12 game, and the try he set up for Fionn Carr showcased his luminous talent.  He has a fantastic, highly unusual (for Irish rugby) skillset: exceptional passing, breaking skills, eye for the tryline and now, solid place kicking [Aside: should Ferg be worried about this development?].  His weaknesses – game management and kicking from hand – are improving. Yes, we know he hasn’t successfully piloted a game through muck and rain in the style of the man he could potentially replace on the Ireland 22, Radge.  Last year he carved up the Pro12 and started his first Heineken Cup game, at home to Montpellier.  An international breakthrough seems inevitible this November.

But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to justify sitting him on the bench for the big games, no matter how well Jonny Sexton is playing.  It’s getting to the stage where Madigan needs to take the next step in his career – starting Heineken Cup games regularly.  WoC has been sniffy about complaints that Madigan ‘isn’t getting enough game time’ in the past, but this season, such is his quality, they will start to become relevant.  Some hard decisions will have to be made.

What is Joe to do? He has a settled and successful team on the pitch, the best 10 in Europe, but has a seriously talented younger chap kicking his heels on the bench. He needs to balance the present, the future, and the maximisation of his existing resources. Can he get Madigan into the team, and how?  Let’s look at the options:

  • Status Quo. In this scenario, Sexton starts the big games and Madigan the Pro12 ones when Deccie says Sexton has a headache. At the very least Madigan will need to be given significant minutes off the bench in Heineken Cup matches.
  • Sexton to 12. This was Deccie’s favoured ploy when he didn’t have the balls to drop Rog decided to play O’Gara and Sexton on the same pitch. To be fair, Sexton never looked uncomfortable, but yet, it never struck us as a viable long-term solution, and genuinely appeared as a sop to the bolshy Rog. Still, it fills what is aleady a problem position for Ireland, and is likely to become one for Leinster. Will Sexton, the best 10 in the Heineken Cup for the last two seasons and favourite to wear the Lions 10 jersey, be impressed with being taken out of the slot to accomodate the uncapped Madigan? In a word – no.
  • Madigan to 9. This has been floated before, most eloquently by the Mole, but Madigan, unlike Giteau, has never played 9. It’s worth a shot if you feel it’s a genuine long-term option, but Leinster and Ireland are well-served in this specialist position, and it would look like a sticking plaster solution to accommodate both men in one team.  And great as Madigan’s distribution is, passing from 10 is not the same as passing (and manging the tempo) from 9.
  • Madigan to 12.  With Ireland crying out for a silky distributor at 12, could Madigan, effectively, be the new Paddy Wallace?  He’d have even more space at 12 than at 10.  Ball-in-hand it looks a good fit, but the 12 channel is popoulated by monsters these days and while Madigan is a brave and competent defender, he probably lacks the sheer bulk to play there.
  • Madigan to 15. Really? With Bob and Isa Nacewa in the squad? And Andrew Conway as the resident promising youngster? Not a runner.
  • Stand Up And Fight. In this scenario, the incumbent (Sexton) gets unceremoniously benched for big games, and Madigan is thrown in to the first team. If Sexton becomes a bench-warmer at Leinster, he won’t be best pleased, and an iHumph-style flounce can’t be ruled out – could Sexy take over Rog’s red and green shirt?

No obvious solution then.  No doubt Ian Madigan is aware that he is working with the best coach of backs in Europe, and it’s almost certain that without Joe Schmidt coaching him, Madigan would not be as far in his development as he is.  It would be a wrench for him to leave all that behind, but this could be a summer for hard decisions.

Were he to look around, he would not lack for suitors.  Both Munster and Ulster would be in the picture.  Ulster are crying out for proven quality in the position and nobody knows how Paddy Jackson will go this season, while Niall O’Connor is squad player material.  At Munster, the world and its mother knows that a legend is nearing the end of his career, and while Keatley has started this season well, doubts remain as to his ability at the very top level.  Last year, you might have argued that Madigan’s skills could wither on the vine at those provinces, but the augurs are good under new coaching regimes.  Mads would most likely have offers from abroad too, probably including franchises from the Super XV, to which his game would be tailor-made.

Leinster would surely hate to see such a special talent slip through their fingers.  Somehow a way has to be found of getting him the necessary exposure to keep him happy and progressing at a suitable pace.  Talent this special is rare indeed.

by whiffofcordite on September 10, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Ian Madigan, Leinster, Munster, Ulster, Uncategorized

Posted by whiffofcordite on September 10, 2012

https://whiffofcordite.com/2012/09/10/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-ian/

2012/13 Season Preview: Leinster

Our third provincial preview, and it’s a look at Leinster.  Can they possibly go one better than last season?

Last Season: to heaven and back. Leinster backed up their first season under Joe Schmidt with a rampaging season in Europe, and became the first team since Leicester to win back-to-back Heineken Cups. They played some fairly rip-roaring rugby in the process, demolishing Bath, swatting aside Cardiff and putting five tries on a gamey Ulster side in the final. On the road they opted for a tougher approach, and it got them through some gnarly old games; squeezing out of Montpellier with a draw, toughing it out against Glasgow, but most famously, delivering a famous victory in Bordeaux against Clermont Auvergne. In the league, Leinster were a model of consistency, topping the log by a distance, but the summer was slightly spoiled by a failure to secure a historic double, with reliable party-poopers Ospreys pinching the Pro12 in the final minutes at the RDS.

Ins: Tom Denton (Leeds), Quinn Roux (Stormers), Andrew Goodman (Tasman Makos)

Outs: Ciaran Ruddock (Neath), Brad Thorn (Fukuoka Sanix Blues), Eamonn Sheridan (Rotherham), Nathan White (Connacht)

The big question is: can Leinster make it three in a row?  They’re the best team in Europe, and the best coached.  The final is in their home from home, the Aviva Stadium.  And they sure won’t give their Cup up without a hell of a fight.  But we reckon they’ll never have it so hard to win the Heineken Cup as this year.  For all sorts of reasons.

For a start, they’ve landed a stinker of a pool draw.  For the fourth season in a row, Leinster will face off against Clermont.  So far, they’ve come off on the right side each time, but can they do it again?  Clermont look the team best equipped to put one over on Leinster, but keep coming up just short.  Last year the difference was a fractionally dropped ball from Wesley Fofana in the dying seconds of the match.  It can’t go on forever.  Elsewhere, Leinster have to deal with a doughty Exeter side and Llanelli Scarlets, who might have the front five this season to cause good teams problems.  They’re strong everywhere else on the pitch.  It’s a hard group.

It goes without saying everyone will be gunning for the back-to-back champions.  It’s hard to gauge just how wide the pool of serious contenders will be this year, but it should be bigger than last season.  Leicester should be resurgent, Saracens will be tough and Northampton will hardly repeat last season’s implosion.  Ulster will have learned from last season’s experience.  Munster are Munster.  Ospreys will target a strong campaign in Europe to back up the Pro12 success.  From France, the aforementioned Clermont and Toulouse should provide a stiff challenge while Toulon, if interested, could be a shark.

Weirdly, though, Leinster’s biggest threat could be a team they’ll never play: Ireland.  Word on the ground is that Team Ireland are set to assert their position as Top Dog like never before.  Kidney will apparently have greater contact with his key men with meetings in camp becoming more frequent.  Preparation time for Heineken Cup games could be compromised.  Leinster, as biggest providers of personnel to the national team, will be the most affected.  Given how, in the last two seasons, one of Schmidt’s biggest challenges has been getting the first team back in the groove after the lengthy Six Nations break, further interruptions will be the last thing he wants – but he’ll just have to suck it up. Ironically, the paucity of Ireland’s recent efforts have helped Schmidt in one sense – the players could not wait to get back to his modern coaching techniques.

Whatever happens, it’ll be fascinating viewing.  Last season Leinster evolved from an offloading team to more of a gainline-passing team.  Schmidt’s vision, declared upon arrival, of turning Leinster into the best passing side in Europe reached its fruition.  With such high quality distribution across the line of attack, there was less requirement to look for the offload out of contact.  Great teams only stay great by evolving, so it’ll be interesting to see what wrinkles Schmidt introduces this year.

In terms of playing personnel there was little change last year.  Rob Kearney returned from injury and effectively swapped in for Shane Horgan (with Nacewa moving to the wing).  This year might require a bit more transition.  Can Gordon D’arcy hang on to the 12 jersey?  It increasingly looks like he can.  He no longer has the line-break threat of old, but in the knockout rounds of the Heineken Cup his strength in contact was a huge asset to Leinster, and launched numerous attacks.  How will Fitzgerald do on his return?  And what of McFadden – can he make the final breakthrough or is he to be the perennial 23rd man.  He is a hardy competitor, as naturally fit as they come, but are his ball skills rounded enough to be first choice 12?  He’s 26 now, so if he doesn’t nail down the role this season, his time may be passing.  And can Schmidt keep the increasingly impressive Ian Madigan happy?  He’s going to demand Heineken Cup minutes if his form gets any better.

Then there’s the second row.  Leinster’s failure to replace Nathan Hines was always liable to hurt them.  Last year they were bailed out by the great Brad Thorn Coup.  That’s unlikely to be repeated this year, so the hope is that between Toner, Denton, Flanagan, Roux and Browne, somebody emerges as a top quality lock.  The best bet looks to be Toner.  He may look awkward, but the improvement in his all-round game last season was immense.  He’s still got time on his side and looks to have finally grown into his unique frame.  Now it’s time to nail down that starting berth once and for all.  Cullen is captain for another season, so Schmidt and co. obviously feel he’s capable of another season as a starter; even if he’s only a 50-minute player.

Anyhow, enough carping.   It should be another cracking season at the RDS.  Sexton will be targeting a test Lions jersey; so too will Rob Kearney, Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip and Cian Healy.   Kevin McLoughlin has emerged as a key player of test quality.  He and Richardt Strauss will have international ambitions.  Then there’s the supporting crew.  Ian Madigan is on the verge of a huge breakthrough and makes cold Thursday nights at the RDS against Treviso in mid-February worth showing up for.   We’re tipping Dom Ryan for a big season (note to Dom: less carrying, more link-play) and we’re hoping for glimpses of Tadgh Furlong’s huge potential.  Season tickets are renewed, bring it on.

Verdict: if three Heineken Cups in a row does prove too good to be true, Leinster will surely console themselves with a league victory.  They should have some silver for the cabinet at the end of the year.

by whiffofcordite on August 29, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in HEC, Leinster

Posted by whiffofcordite on August 29, 2012

https://whiffofcordite.com/2012/08/29/201213-season-preview-leinster/

National Game Plans, Political Infighting and Corporate Days Out

Well, that just about wraps up our summer series.  Thanks for all the comments and interaction, we hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane.  For us anyway, it wasn’t just an exercise in dewy-eyed nostalgia, but an attempt to put in a wider context where Irish rugby has found itself and how it got there.  Because, looking back, Irish rugby is in an entirely new place and experiencing something it’s never had to deal with before.

In 2012, Irish rugby is more fragmented than it’s ever been.   We’ve had spells of woeful inadequacy, but the rugby public suffered as one.  We’ve also had periods of greatness, and the joy was shared in by all.  In 2012, your view of the past season is almost certainly coloured by what province you come from.  Leinster fans had a great time.  They’ll be able to look past the national team’s failures and their memory banks will be dominated by the Heineken Cup win and great rugby their team played.  Ulster fans likewise had a memorable year.  But Munster fans had neither provincial nor international success to celebrate and probably took the national team’s ills harder  because they had little to compensate for it.

The rise of the provinces has been a key ingredient in the success of Irish rugby over the last decade – we hope this came out clearly in the eight game series.  They have pooled talent into an appropriate number of teams to ensure competitiveness, brought new fans into rugby grounds and – most importantly – given us historic days out that won’t be forgotten any time soon.  And they’ve won shedloads of silver.  The IRFU has been rightly praised for getting its structures right in that the provinces exist as entities within their own right, but ultimately feed the national team.  The idea that provincial success is now detrimental to the national team – peddled by certain journalists looking to justify a pre-conveiced opinion – is simply ridiculous.  It is nonsensical to suggest that if Leinster, Ulster and Munster were struggling to get out of their pools that Team Ireland would somehow be better off.  We reject it utterly.

The IRFU and Kidney need to make sure they don’t allow themselves to go down this path.  Indications are that they are already doing so.  It looks as if the provinces have grown to the stage where the IRFU does not know what to do with them.  In the last twelve months we’ve had the new player succession rules, some pretty spotty low-budget recruiting, and from Kidney, sounds about the provinces not generating enough match-time for certain players and how he’d ideally have the players in camp rather than competing in Cup finals.  They need to be very careful here.  French rugby is currently marooned in a club vs. country wasteland.  In the last Six Nations they won two of five games and the Top 14 was unwatchable this year.  If France – with its huge player pool, wonderful history, passionate supporter base and superb youth sports programs – can be brought so low by political in-fighting, what chance does a small country like Ireland have?

So much commentary (including our own) is fixated on Kidney’s selection and tactics, but there is a bigger picture: if Deccie is going to see the provinces as a nuisance to be battled with, then he has no chance of succeeding.  Our understanding is that his relationship with the provincial coaches is close to negligible.  This is a road doomed to failure.  The coach who does succeed will be the one who can harness what the provinces are doing for his own gain.

It is tempting at this point to rush towards Muddy Williams’ touted concept of the ‘national game plan’, apparently the approach taken in New Zealand.  But such notions appear fanciful, in the medium term at least.  The Irish talent pool just isn’t deep enough.  The coaches at Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht each have to cut their cloth according to what’s available.  For example, Ireland has just two top-grade fly-halves, and they play and see the game very differently.  Each is good enough to have the team’s style of play built around their talents.  But it would be bizarre to tell Rob Penney to make Munster play more like Leinster, or to ask Schmidt to get Sexton to kick the corners a bit more.   Their jobs are tough enough as it is.  And who decides what the national game plan is anyway?  Presumably the national team coach.  So, Kidney telling Schmidt how to play rugby?  It sounds like a practical joke.  It just doesn’t seem workable on any level.

There’s no obvious solution, but it’s hard to escape the thought that Kidney could do more to embrace what’s happening in provinces, especially Leinster.  But just as Eddie O’Sullivan was unwilling to follow a Munster-based approach in spite of picking so many of their number, Kidney seems to be trying to get players who clearly so enjoy what they do at provincial level to play a very different way.  Throw in his mantra-like repetition of the venerated status of test rugby, and you’re looking at a coach that’s increasingly stubborn and embattled.  It’s no platform for success.  Kidney needs help from the IRFU here, too.  It would help if the provinces didn’t feel they were being dictated to in terms of who they can play and when.  All that said, both Joe Schmidt is on record as having welcomed the ‘increased dialogue’ between national and provincial coaches last week, while Rob Penney enjoyed a ‘robust talk’ with Kidney on arriving at Munster.  Maybe the tide is turning, slowly.

Secondly, the players, Kidney and the IRFU need to make an investment to win back an increasingly disillusioned support base.  If the IRFU is wondering why the provinces have such pulling power, they might just take a look at the product they provide: cheap, accessible tickets to tightly packed grounds, family-friendly set-ups, a strong bond with the players, away trips to the South of France and great rugby towns like Bath and Northampton.  Little wonder that the more corporate, expensive and often dull Six Nations is not terribly attractive.  Casting one’s mind back over the last few years, you have to go back to 2007 to recall the last genuinely thrilling Six Nations.  Sure, the 2009 Grand Slam was incredible, but looking at it objectively, it wasn’t a classic series by any means.

Supporting Ireland is no craic at all these days.  Tom Fox wrote in a recent piece for Setanta that nobody really ‘owns’ the national team.  Fans will never allow their provincial team to be slagged by another team’s mob (go onto any of the fans’ forums for proof), but everyone is happy to dump on the national team.  There are easy scapegoats for all.  Leinster and Ulster fans blame the coach no matter what, while Munster fans see a Leinster-dominated team and blame the players.  It’s tiresome.  Some effort needs to be made to bring a bit of fun, a bit of excitement into the national team.

When you watch YouTube videos of Shaggy’s try in Twickenham or BOD’s hat-trick in Paris, there’s a sense that they were more innocent times and that something’s been lost.  It’s a sad day when suporters see the Six Nations, such a great old tournament with such rich history, as something to be got over.  In 2008, after Munster almost beat the Kiwis, ROG said that ‘maybe we need to buy into the green shirt a bit more’.  And maybe the same applies to the fans today.  We could all do with falling in love with the national team again.  But the powers that be have to make it easier for us.

by whiffofcordite on August 14, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Deccie Kidney, HEC, Ireland, Leinster, Munster, Six Nations, Ulster

Posted by whiffofcordite on August 14, 2012

https://whiffofcordite.com/2012/08/14/national-game-plans-political-infighting-and-corporate-days-out/

Eight Games That Defined Irish Rugby: Match Seven

The Match: Leinster 25 Munster 6, 2 May 2009

What it Defined: the handing over of the baton from Munster to Leinster  and the rise of inter-provincial bickering

The State of Play

The Heineken Cup has thrown up a reprise of 2006’s all-Irish semi-final.  That game has since gone down as ‘Black Sunday’ among Leinster fans, where their team was thrashed on the pitch and humiliated off it, as Munster fans swamped Dublin 4 and Lansdowne Road.  A repeat of 2006 is widely expected, on the field of play at least.  While both teams have made it this far, their paths have been wildly different.

Munster are playing like a well-oiled machine.  They’re champions, and they’ve navigated a difficult group, albeit not without a few scares.  In the opening game, they almost lose to Montauban’s second string, and they are decidedly fortunate to beat 14-man Clermont Auvergne at home.  But since a bad loss at home to Ulster (11-37) they have found a new gear, thrashing Sale at home with David Wallace in imperious form, and charging through the Magners League program, picking up eight successive league wins.  They are league champions by the time the Heineken Cup semi-final looms into view.

A far cry from the old boot-and-bollock Munster, they are scoring tries for fun.  Paul Warwick has brought a creative dimension to their back play and young centre Keith Earls is to the manor born.  They beat Leinster 22-5 in Thomond Park, and in the HEC quarter-final they hammer a talented Ospreys team 43-9.  As Warwick bangs over a drop goal from close to the halfway line, the camera picks up Paul O’Connell’s reaction: a shake of the head in disbelief.  A week later, eight of their number are selected in the Lions touring party.  The usual suspects are joined by two players who didn’t even feature in Ireland’s Grand Slam the previous month: Alan Quinlan and Keith Earls.

The oft-used phrase (usually by Gerry) of the “Munster zeitgeist” is truly relevant – Geech and Gatty plan to tap into the famous Munster spirit to beat the world champion Springboks. Munster are mainstream. It’s a time when Setanta can screen hour-long documentaries posing the question “Are Munster the epitome of sporting Irishness?”. It’s mildly cringeworthy to look back on, but Munster were generally seen as something special and superhuman.

By contrast, Leinster’s season has been bizarre to the point of freakish.  They bag 10 tries and 10 points from their first two games, dismantling Wasps 41-11 in the RDS, but proceed to go into freefall.  They lose to Castres, in a dismal performance and face the consequences when Neil Francis writes a barbed review in the Sindo.  They then lose to Wasps but scrape past Edinburgh 12-3, qualifying only by dint of Wasps’ failure to win their final pool game in Castres.  Frankly, they are lucky to qualify, having made a mess of a perfect start.

The quarter final pits them against Harlequins in the Stoop.  In a crazy, unforgettable match, Leinster tackle themselves to a standstill, somehow holding out for a 6-5 win.  The game is notable for the infamous bloodgate scandal, with Quins engineering a fake-blood substitution to get a stricken Nick Evans back on the pitch for a late drop goal attempt.   In the end, his kick barely gets airborne and Leinster find themselves in an unlikely semi-final against their biggest rivals.

The build-up to the game is in contrast to 2006.  Then it was a case of city slickers vs. country bumpkins.  Now, it is impossible to find a pundit who will give Leinster a chance.  Leinster’s car-crash form and lack of bottle is held up against Munster’s seeming invincibility and air of champions elect.  In a piece by Reggie Corrigan, the turncoat ‘Lunster’ fan reaches a mainstream audience, and the Lunsters take to the airwaves to defend their position.  On the morning of the game, the Irish Times publishes a self-satisfied, nasty-spirited piece by Niall Kiely, declaring the game already won, lamenting only that Munster could do with a tougher game in order to be more battle-hardened for the final.

The Game

The game goes contrary to expectations in every way as Munster run into a Leinster team that simply had not read the script.  Leinster’s performance is feral: tackle counts are through the roof (Jennings tops out with 22)and they pulverise Munster at the breakdown.   Felipe Contepomi sets the tone, smashing through O’Gara in the opening minutes.  Rocky Elsom, becoming an increasingly influential figure, is on the rampage.  Cian Healy is sinbinned, but Leinster dominate the ensuing 10 minute period.  Contepomi drops a goal.  He’s got his game face on this time, and he’s in control – but gets injured.  His replacement is Johnny Sexton, Leinster’s vaunted fly-half, but one who has endured a difficult season.  His first task is to take a penalty from the left of the posts.  He takes an age over the ball, but his kick is straight through the middle.

It is a watershed moment in his and Leinster’s history.  Suddenly Leinster are on the front foot all over the pitch.  Isa Nacewa breaks the line, floats a sublime pass out to D’arcy who breaks Keith Earls’ poor tackle to score.  A backlash from Munster is expected in the second half, but instead it’s Leinster who strike next, with Fitzgerald stepping Paul Warwick to score.  Cameras pick up ashen-faced Munster fans who cannot believe what is unfolding in front of their eyes.  When Brian O’Driscoll intercepts a telegraphed long pass from O’Gara to score under the posts, the game is up.  Leinster have done the unthinkable – beaten Munster when it mattered most.

The win is a huge triumph for Leinster’s under-fire coach.  His preparation of the team for the game is masterful, keeping the group at a simmer, and only bringing them to boil in the 24 hours before kick-off.  He uses the media to his advantage, building a siege mentaility within the camp, an everyone-hates-us-we-don’t care-attitude.  It is also a vindication for his methods, which are not to everyone’s liking, and reward for three years of rebuilding work.  After Black Sunday in 2006, Leinster Rugby and Cheika had reacted by changing much about the club.  He recognised that days out like the quarter-final in Toulouse would be rare unless Leinster had a group of forwards that could go toe-to-toe with the heavyweight European packs.

Leinster’s signature style of swashbuckling back play had to go on the back burner, as Cheika sought to construct a more forward-oriented team, built around tough nuggets Leo Cullen, Shane Jennings, Bernard Jackman, Jamie Heaslip and, of course, Rocky Elsom.  Winning the Magners League in 2008 was a big, often undervalued step.  But the new Leinster could be dull to watch, and there were large sections who bemoaned the pragmatic playing style – where was the champagne, the romance and the tries from 50m out?  Cheika’s legacy hinged on this result, and the final which followed.

The Aftermath

The game had a profound effect on every element of Irish rugby, from the fans, through to the provinces and up to the national team.  For Leinster, it was their arrival, long overdue, on the European stage.  Even more importantly, they had made people sit up and take notice of them – to look at them in a new way.  The easy stereotype of the Munster Pride of Irish Warriors and the Cappuccino-Drinking Leinster Bottlers no longer held water.   They had earned the rugby public’s respect the only way they could – by toppling the team against whose record theirs was always unfavourably compared.

First, of course, they had to go on and win the final, against Leicester in Murrayfield.  Contepomi would not be able to take his place in the team, and would be replaced by his heir apparent, Johnny Sexton.  The game was a tight affair, but an imperfectly struck penalty from Sexton with ten minutes to go was enough to secure a 19-16 win for Leinster.  If Munster’s first Heineken Cup win was met with relief after many near misses, Leinster’s was greeted almost with a sense of ‘How did we get here?’  Only six months previously they were losing in Castres and taking the brickbats; now they were champions.  Truth be told, they weren’t vintage champions, but such is the curious nature of the Heineken Cup.  It was a triumph over self-inflicted adversity as much as anything else.

The rise of Leinster was great for Irish rugby in many senses – where Ireland previously had one province with genuine European pedigree, now they had two.  Had Munster won it would have been perceived as just another nail in the Leinster coffin, but Leinster winning opened a whole new world to Irish rugby.  As the capital city’s only professional team, they were well poised to capitalise on their success.  The emerging Tullow flanker Sean O’Brien would also have a huge impact on how those from outside the traditional Leinster cache would view the team.  And behind the scenes, Leinster had got its structures right, with its flourishing youth academy, in building ties with the schools game and creating a buzzy, family-friendly atmosphere at its new home in the RDS.  It was a success story waiting to happen and the win against Munster lit the touchpaper.

But it wasn’t all great news.  Perhaps the greatest knock-on effect was in the relationship between the fans of the two provinces.  Up until this game, the two groups had co-existed happily: Munster held the bragging rights and Leinster fans reluctantly accepted their lot as second best, but banter between them was generally cheery.  This had been the way of things for ten years, and nobody expected it to shift any time soon.  Leinster being European champions levelled the playing field, and changed the dynamic utterly.  Now Leinster fans could stand up and defend their team.  It led to quite a bit of rancour, most of it, mercifully, confined to internet fora rather than at the games between the sides, where fans still mingled and drank together before, during and after the matches.  For some Munster fans there was an element of not being able to take the ribbing now they were no longer top dog, and equally, for some Leinster fans there was a desire for revenge for years of having taken it.

[We are aware this is a delicate issue, and do not want our words taken as attributing blame to any particular side; in the comments section, please refrain from trying to start any flame wars on this subject.  Any such comments will be moderated.]

Oddly, the most poisonous encounters were saved for games involving the national team, when everyone is supposedly supporting the same side.  With Johnny Sexton’s emergence, Leinster fans wanted to see their man replace Ronan O’Gara in the national team.  Neither player was especially popular among one-anothers fans, and their dual in the most visible of positions became emblematic of the new rivalry.  The sniping could become quite barbed.  It was not helped by both players showing some patchy form in green and Kidney’s constant chopping between the two, or by the headstrong, often cranky nature of both players.  As Ireland’s results and performances dwindled, a blame-game culture emerged, with provincial leanings to the fore.  It was BOD’s fault for knocking it on.  No, it was ROG’s fault for throwing such a terrible pass.  And so on.

The irony of it all, of course, is that historically the biggest rivalries in Irish rugby were Leinster-Ulster (where the game existed in similar social strata) and Munster-Ulster (where, to be blunt, they never particularly liked or respected each other). Perhaps the absence of a clearly defined Leinster-Munster rivalry allowed a new dynamic to develop quickly. It has now got to the point where it is completely overarching, dominating virtually every aspect of Irish rugby – the arrival of Ulster at the top table comes as a merciful relief for many fans, allowing alternative provincial dynamics to get oxygen. The Leinster-Ulster fixture scheduling in this years Pro12 is a welcome development.

The following season Leinster consolidated their position as one of Europe’s heavyweights, if not yet a great side.  They squeezed past Clermont in the quarter-finals, on a memorable night in the RDS, but succumbed to Toulouse in the semi-final.  In the league they struggled for tries for much of the season and lost the final to Ospreys, but in beating Munster three times, secured their position as the country’s foremost province.  It was a spirited campaign, but the backline was labouring and in need of new ideas.  Cheika stood down at the end of the season and his replacement, Clermont assistant coach Joe Schmidt, would be tasked with bringing some of the old dash back into what was now a tough, doughty outfit.  The rest, as they say, is history.

by whiffofcordite on August 7, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in HEC, Leinster, Munster

Posted by whiffofcordite on August 7, 2012

https://whiffofcordite.com/2012/08/07/eight-games-that-defined-irish-rugby-match-seven/

Stealing our jobs

The days might have gone when Irish rugby folk looked on in wide-eyes amazement when Aussies came over to tell them it wasn’t the best idea to booze when recovering from injury, but we still are in thrall to the glamourous tanned lads who, in many ways, tell the story of Irish professional rugby as well as any Irish players. John Langford leading the troops through moats of molten lava in the south of France, Stanley Wright barbecuing Fido before the pound got him, and Clinton Shifcofske fumbling Garryowens on a sodden Belfast night are all part of Irish rugby lore, and Isa, Dougie and Ruan have picked up the baton, albeit in a rather more effective fashion.

In the context of the IRFU coming over all Tea Party about immigrants, we though it would be a good time to review the provinces’ cohort of evil women-stealing job-doing welfare-scrounging diversity-bringing native-educating mind-expanding Johnny Foreigners plying their nefarious trade in green Erin.

Recall for this season Ulster, Munster and Leinster are allowed four NIQs (players who can’t play for Ireland) and one “Project Player” (someone who will be eligible for Irish selection after a period of time), and Connacht are allowed “something else” – the technical term for us not actually knowing the formal arrangement.

Munster

NIQs: BJ Botha (tighthead prop), Wian du Preez (loosehead prop), Casey Laulala (centre), Doug Howlett (ligind winger). Project player: CJ Stander (flanker)

After years of grim recruitment abroad (Nick Williams, Sam Tuitupou, Will Chambers et al), Munster have probably surprised even themselves by ending up with a very useful set of foreigners. BJ came down from Ulster last year, reputedly as the best-paid NIQ in the country, and locked the Munster scrum in a way it hadn’t been in years – along with POC, Rog and Keith Earls, he is one of Munster’s irreplacables. On the other side of the scrum Wian du Preez quietly does the business, and is on a longer contract than Botha, so might be around for a while, as he is the only non-Irish loosehead starting for a province. Not much needs to be said about Doug Howlett – if he can teach Simon Zebo 10% of his defensive positioning knowledge, the Corkman is in for a long career.

Casey Laulala is a more curious case – he is exclusively a 13, which is of course the position that Munster’s best back, Irishman Keet Earls, wants to play from now on. It’s unlikely they brought Laulala, a very useful player, in to cover the games when Deccie has Earls wrapped in cotton wool, so you’d imagine someone will play out of position … let’s hope it ain’t Earls. CJ Stander signed last week, and looks a really good fit – a former U-20 Springbok captain, his strength is his ball carrying, a facet of the game in which Munster were notably deficient last season. The Bulls are unhappy to see him go, but we would eat every one of our hats if ever pulled on an Irish jersey – a man who is being lined up for a long Bok career does not walk away for the prospect of playing with Niall Ronan and James Cawlin – he’ll be back on the highveldt in time for RWC15.

Rory McIlroy Rating: 4/5 – a good tighthead prop (the best-paid import in Ireland), the All Blacks all time leading try scorer and a Springbok underage star? Clearly some prominent local celebrity is funding this cadre. Our money is on Pat Shortt.

Ulster

NIQs: John Afoa (tighthead prop), Johann Muller (second row), Ruan Pienaar (scrum half), Not Nick Williams (tackle bag holder). Project Player: Jared Payne (full back)

Ulster’s cohort of fancy Springboks was the envy of certain prominent parochial journalists last year, and with good reason – Ruan Pienaar was the stand-out scrum-half in Europe, Pedrie Wannenburg wowed the galleries with his sumptuous offloads, Stefan Terblanche wellied the ball into orbit and Johann Muller led the team with granite certainty from the second row. Wannenbosh and Terreblanche have moved on, but the others remain. Pienaar is genuinely one of the rugby world’s superstars, and has played for his country in 5 different positions – his game management from the base of the scrum is matched only by Dmitri Yachvili and Will Genia, and his goal-kicking is lethal and reliable. Muller is one of Ulster’s pack leaders, and sometime forwards coach – the hope is he continues to have huge influence on the younger guys coming through – the turnaround in Dan Tuohy from Gloucester reserve to dynamic international lock is at least partly attributable to Muller’s excellence.

John Afoa, despite a hard time in the scrums in the HEC final (kudos to DJ Church), is a destructive and aggressive prop – at times he seems to be everywhere around the park. He’s come into the spotlight recently as the evil genius who stunts Deccie Fitzpatrick’s development, but he will remain first choice at Ulster next year. Which is something Nick Williams will assuredly not be. The ineffective splinter gatherer, formerly of Munster and Aironi, is a laughably bad signing – he can only play 8 and will be behind the returning Roger Wilson (an underrated player and great bit of recruitment). Let us hope he wasn’t Anscombe’s call, because, if he was, its a pretty inauspicious beginning.

Jared Payne has switched from injured NIQ to project player now that Robbie Diack is Irish. He played only 3 times last season then crocked himself – he had a reputation as a daring counter-attacker in Auckland, and that’s something Ulster missed last year – Craig Gilroy apart, the outside backs were rather bosh-tastic.

Rory McIlroy Rating: 3.5/5 Unless Caroline Wozniacki has spent all of Rory’s fortune, there is no good reason he would fund the signing of Nick Williams – Humph has to take the blame for that one

Leinster

NIQs: Isa Nacewa (winger), Heinke van der Merwe (loosehead prop), Quinn Roux (second row), TBA. Project player: Richardt Strauss (hooker)

Isa Nacewa is mentioned in the same breath as Jim Williams and Dr Phil as the most influential foreigner to grace Irish soil, and rightly so – his outlook and professionalism have coloured Leinster’s approach under Joe Schmidt and his awareness of space is a thing of beauty; the try against Leicester in last years’ HEC quarter-final was one of the best we have seen in person. The rest of Leinster’s cohort are in the engine room – Heinke VDM comes on for DJ Church when he gets tired in big games, and mans the Pro12 shift with power and efficiency – he’s basically a prototype Afrikaner prop who can scrummage well and hit rucks hard. Beside him, little Richard Strauss is finalising the words to Ireland’s Call – he’s  qualified in the autumn and will offer some good hands and the support lines of a former flanker.

Leinster had two vacancies following the departures of Nathan White and Mat Berquist, and the first signing is underwhelming to say the least. While Quinn Roux has talent (he was ahead of Eben Etzebeth in the Stormers depth chart before getting injured this year), but it’s an odd signing – it seems he is over here on a gap year and no more – it stinks of penny-pinching, and Leinster are kicking the second row can further down the road – Leo Cullen is no longer top level, and Devin Toner isn’t quite there – this line is a flashing red light for next season. Let’s hope he doesn’t look upon the gap year as an excuse to head to Coppers on a Monday night. We have no insider knowledge of who the TBA is likely to be (or if there will be one), but if the last two guys the IRFU have shelled out for (Williams and Roux) are any guide, a cheap bosher will be making half-time oranges in D4 next year.

Rory McIlroy Rating: 2/5 Bono it ain’t.  The mystery celeb who is funding Leinster’s expansion has been credit-crunched (Johnny Ronan?) – Quinn Roux is a mystifying signing, and the AN Other at this stage of the year is not a good sign

Connacht

NIQs: Ettienne Reynecke (hooker), Rodney Ah You (tighthead prop), George Naoupu (number 8), Dan Parks (outhalf), Fetu’u Vainikolo (bosher). Project Player: Nathan White (tighthead prop), Danie Poolman (winger)

There seems to be a bit more leeway given to imports in the west – Connacht have 5 NIQs and 2 project players. The standout member is former Scotland stand-off Dan Parks – his international career may have ended in ignominy, but he made the most of his opportunities, and was an intelligent and committed international player, who was outstanding in the 2010 Six Nations. Parks will bring poise and experience to a squad thin on guys who have played at the highest level – he will kick goals and will look excellent in green. It could be a precursor of a move into coaching, and this would be Connacht’s gain – he strikes us a classic progressive Aussie coach – Matt Williams with a monster boot if you like.

The (evil) tighthead prop Nathan White has come in from Leinster. He gained positive reviews from his time in D4 but if he ever starts ahead of Ronan Loughney, Deccie will blame him for Ireland’s woes. Rodney Ah You is another one who can be blamed for the Twickers debacle, given he wears 3. The rest of the squad is composed largely of South Sea boshers, and it’s hard to see how this benefits Connacht, or Ireland – its basically dead money that could be invested in young Irish lads.

Rory McIlroy Rating: 1.5/5 Dan Parks aside, the local boy who made it big worldwide (member of Westlife?) is doing this on the cheap – either that or he has a fetish for the bosh – Ooooooooooooooooooooohh!!

by whiffofcordite on July 4, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Connacht, Evil Foreigners, Ireland, Leinster, Munster, Ulster

Posted by whiffofcordite on July 4, 2012

https://whiffofcordite.com/2012/07/04/stealing-our-jobs/

Season in Review: Leinster

What a pity.  Two scores in front with nine minutes to go with a historic double knocking on the door.  But even then you never felt Leinster were in control.  With Poite on their back at scrum time, a couple of costly errors gave the all important territory to Ospreys: Sexton’s booming spiral kick bouncing just into touch and the crossing incident when Leinster were attacking the Ospreys 22.

Such is life, as the French say.  Once again, the double has proved elusive. Leinster will be aggrieved at Poite’s refereeing of the scrums and the offside line, but in truth they never really controlled the game – and it wasn’t Poite’s refereeing that caused them to miss so many tackles.  Ospreys’ quick feet and offloading game got them through plenty of gaps.  It all served to underlie just how difficult it is to win back to back titles. Leinster restrained their post-final celebrations, and clearly wanted this trophy, but, down to the reserve front row for most of the match and missing Sean O’Brien, it was not to be.  Maybe they used up their good luck chips with that Fofana ball (mis)placement.

The sad thing is that the players will wake up this morning feeling gutted when they have so much to shout about over an extraordinary season.  They lost just four games all season, and took their game to new heights.  At times – the first halves against Cardiff and Bath, the second against Clermont, and the final against Ulster stand out – their passing and ingenuity in attack were unplayable.

What’s more, they scorched the earth in a season when their two marquee forwards had difficult seasons.  Sean O’Brien endured something of a ‘second season syndrome’, (though he found his form for the knockout stages of the Heiny) and Heaslip had a quiet campaign confined mainly to dirty work at the coalface.  In addition, BOD was out for all but the final few weeks.

Huge credit must go to the footsoldiers who stepped up.  Kevin McLoughlin had a terrific campaign and deserves his call-up for the summer tour.  Shane Jennings had another solid season, McFadden stepped up another notch and place-kicked exceptionally well for much of the campaign.  Devin Toner – previously a bête noir of ours – improved out of sight.  There were plenty of starlets on view too, with Ian Madigan, whose sweet pass and probing runs have been thrilling to watch.

We’re going to single three individuals out for special praise, contrary as it may be to the notion of the ultimate team game.  Joe Schmidt, the coach extraordinaire for his high standards, now infamous video meetings and empowering the team to play the way they do.  It’s particularly impressive how the ‘midweek’ team is able to fit in seamlessly and play in the same ‘Leinster way’, albeit against lesser opponents.  His recruitment of Brad Thorn to shore up the second row showed the sort of ambition and shrewd thinking that sets him apart.  Secondly, Johnny Sexton, whose form this season has been unmatched in Europe.  His pass is sublime, he can boom the ball 60m down the pitch and his place kicking nudged close to 90%.  He’s Leinster’s Cranky General.  Finally, Rob Kearney.  The forgotten man last season, his feats under the high ball defy belief, but his determination to run the ball back and his improved passing game were just as impressive.

It’s hard to see Leinster falling off a cliff next season, and they should be competitive again.  Three in a row?  They’ll certainly be favourites, but every team will be gunning for them.  Succession is being managed well, and the eventual replacements for Generation Totes Ledge (Dorce, Drico etc.) have already amassed plenty of experience.  This year they evolved from an offloading team to more of a passing team, and chances are they’ll have to look for more innovations next year while the chasing pack analyse how to trouble them.  Ospreys certainly seem to have found a means of containing them, perhaps there’s a model to be followed there.  Of course, as Munster know all too well, bad luck with injuries can slash a season to pieces, and for all Leinster’s depth they’d be vulnerable if they lost Sexton, Ross or O’Brien to name but three.

The main issue is the second row, and it has been looming since Nathan Hines left.  Brad Thorn bids farewell, and leaves a huge hole to fill.  Leo Cullen was withdrawn from both finals before the 60 minute mark – can he deliver another season as a first pick?  It seems unlikely.  Devin Toner’s performance yesterday was hugely encouraging and he should force himself into the role of regular starter in the big games next year, on the loosehead side of the scrum.  A tighthead lock appears to be on the shopping list (suggestions welcome).  We will watch new arrival Tom Denton (signed from Leeds Carnegie, and seemingly with a good reputation) and academy graduate Mark Flanagan’s progress with interest.

Leinster won’t always be this good, so best enjoy the moment and try not to dwell too much on the one that got away.

Season to remember: Kevin McLoughlin.  Abrasive blindside and terrific lineout forward.  Doesn’t catch the eye but something of a workaholic and textbook tackler. 

Season to forget: we had high hopes for Fionn Carr’s return to the provine, but broken field line breaks could be counted on one hand.

Best match: Clermont 15-19 Leinster.  A titanic battle between the two best teams inEuropethat came right down to the wire.

Best performance: Leinster 42-14 Ulster.  Sucked up everything Ulster could throw at them and racked up the tries with cold ruthlessness.

Worst performance: Ospreys 27-3 Leinster.  Take your pick from three defeats to the Ospreys; this mauling was pretty nasty.

Thanks for the memories: Big Bad Brad may only have played a handful of games, but his contribution was massive.  From listening to the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, so great is his charisma that meeting the man is like that brilliant passage in The Great Gatsby where Nick Carraway describes the titular Gatsby’s smile.

See you next season: Dom Ryan’s campaign was obliterated by injury.  We have high hopes for him.  Lets hope he can make the long awaited breakthrough next year.

by whiffofcordite on May 28, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Leinster
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by whiffofcordite on May 28, 2012

https://whiffofcordite.com/2012/05/28/1174/

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