Thursday, October 07, 2010
BACK in November 1967 The Beatles released yet another hit album, the Magical Mystery Tour, which summed up precisely where they were at, at that point in time.
At this stage every year, 24 rugby strongholds scattered around Europe embark on a magical mystery tour of their own in the pursuit of Heineken Cup glory.
Every season it just gets better and better.
The sense of excitement surrounding this year’s tournament has been heightened by the prospect of teams favouring the retention of possession over kicking it away. This has been facilitated by the much heralded new interpretation of law surrounding the tackle and offside and was largely responsible of producing an average of six tries per game in this summer’s Tri Nations series.
Quite whether it will have the same impact in the Heineken Cup as it had in the southern hemisphere remains to be seen. Early evidence would suggest that the French in their domestic league are adapting quite well while there has also been encouraging signs in England’s Aviva Premiership.
The Irish rugby public will have a clearer view on that subject by Saturday evening when Leinster and Munster take on opponents from France and England in their respective opening round games against Racing Metro 92 and London Irish next Saturday. A measure of how difficult a task they face is gleaned from the fact that both sides currently sit in pole positions in the English and French domestic championships.
Ulster, who have started the season so well and remain unbeaten in the Magners League, look set to challenge for a quarter-final slot for the first time in 12 years and have been facilitated by a somewhat kinder draw than their two Irish rivals.
Munster and Leinster didn’t even have the luxury to think about what might lie ahead until addressing the small matter of facing each other in last Saturday’s encounter at the Aviva stadium. There was no doubt who was in the better frame of mind waking up on Sunday morning.
It is amazing how one result can change the mindset of a team. Up to that point Leinster had attracted too much attention and negative comment on the back of a poor opening to their season. That is why last Saturday’s game presented them with the perfect opportunity of wiping the slate clean and calming the nerves and boy did they avail of it.
The contrast with that performance and their abject showing in Murrayfield against Edinburgh the previous week could not have been more startling.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the display of Brian O’Driscoll. If ever a man was born for the big stage then it is the Irish captain. In the soulless surrounds of Murrayfield where only 1,500 patrons bothered to show cause, O’Driscoll’s approach seemed to mirror that of his team; subdued, lethargic and off the pace.
Cue the Aviva showdown and a historic first meeting of two great rivals in corporate headquarters and O’Driscoll led the way with his unwavering commitment in the tackle and his genius in attack. Where once the Dublin wizard mesmerised defences with his lightning feet, he now does so with his hands.
His ability to unlock massed defences has been a constant for over a decade but now he does so with an outstanding range of passing and off-loading. He fixes opponents with his eyes and lets his hands do the damage. Munster’s problems stem from the fact that in the continuing absence of the injury plagued Keith Earls, they have nobody to provide that creative touch. That is a worry. Lifeimi Mafi has the capability to do so but unfortunately he has been landed with a seven weeks suspension.
Despite their very promising start to the season with an unbeaten run in the Magners, last Saturday night’s reversal will serve as a reality check for Munster. It will also give London Irish coach Toby Booth a key reference point from which to launch his training for the week in the build-up to what promises to be a fascinating contest at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.
Booth will note that Leinster profited big time from pressuring a Munster lineout that as a result of competing pods seemed unwilling to throwbeyond Donnacha O’Callaghan at the front. The net result may have produced guaranteed ball but it was of little use to Ronan O’Gara in an attacking sense.
The Exiles have one of the most disruptive lineouts in the English premiership and in Bob Casey and Nick Kennedy they will pressurise Munster to an even greater degree than Nathan Hines and Devin Toner did last weekend.
Perhaps of even greater concern will be the manner in which London Irish retain possession and manufacture openings for a lightning back three of Delon Armitage, Topsy Ojo and Sailosi Tagicakibau. They will not be afraid to attack from deep and as a consequence Munster’s kicking game will have to be spot on.
Their pace out wide is balanced by the power and creative ability of Samoan international Seilala Mapusua in midfield. He is a handful. At least Sam Tuitupo has plenty experience of dealing with him from his days in the premiership with Worcester.
London Irish are vulnerable, however, and defensively their out half Ryan Lamb is an accident waiting to happen. When he visited Musgrave Park for a friendly early last season it was embarrassing to see him literally run out of Denis Leamy’s way.
The London Irish defence coach Dave Ellis, who also performs that task for France, is well aware of his frailties and that is why they regularly take him out of the 10 channel on opposition ball and place him out of harm’s way on the wing. In a recent Premiership game they even slipped him into their back row on opposition scrums to camouflage his defensive vulnerability.
Munster must put behind last Saturday’s setback and regroup quickly.
I have great admiration for new signing Johne Murphy but I think that he is better suited to a back three position. Such is Munster’s midfield injury woes – and the Mafi suspension – I am sure the former Leicester Tiger will have to start there on Saturday. The accumulated loss of Felix Jones, Ian Dowling, Earls and the suspension of Mafi is now taking its toll.
Leinster, despite the boost of last Saturday’s five in-a-row; know that they too will have their hands full against Sebastian Chabal’s high-flying Racing Metro side. They were caught at this early stage of last year’s tournament when that opening home defeat to London Irish left them no room for error.
The one advantage they do have is that new head coach Joe Schmidt will have plenty of experience of preparing teams to face Racing Metro from his days at Clermont. Schmidt has impressed me by the manner with which he remained calm and reassuring over the last few weeks despite some very poor performances and results. The win over Munster will help to calm the nerves and give him some space. Schmidt is a good coach and deserves some slack. Mind you, a positive result on Saturday will also be a help.
The biggest plus for Schmidt last weekend, result apart, was the fact that Jonny Sexton finally saw some game time. His arrival on the field along with Eoin Reddan gave Leinster a fresh impetus and Sexton had a big influence in the final quarter of the game. He has been badly missed throughout September and his presence on Saturday tips the scales back in Leinster’s favour.
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