Sobering start for Irish powerhouses
Principal amongst that is the assault being put down by three of the French sides — Toulouse, the nearly men of Clermont Auvergne and the money men of Toulon. In general, French rugby is going through a bit of a crisis at the moment with serious concerns surrounding the number of overseas players plying their trade in the French championship. Last season there was a noticeable shift in playing style, with the majority of the top sides playing a very conservative brand of rugby with question marks over the skill levels of some of their leading international players. The true extent of this narrow vision was seen to a worrying degree when the semi-finals and final of the Top 14 failed to produce a single try despite the fact that Toulouse, Castres, Clermont Auvergne and Toulon were all represented.
Clermont and Toulouse look the most likely to change that approach this season and the former’s five-try demolition of the Scarlets, who admittedly were at a major disadvantage with the dismissal of Morgan Stoddard after 38 minutes which negated a very promising start. Toulouse, too, looked in complete control against a very strong Leicester Tigers side and have unearthed another midfield gem in 18-year-old Gael Fickou, who was called into the France squad for the November internationals and already looks destined for great things. Toulon, despite their galaxy of stars, still rely on a more structured game plan but have the resources in terms of power, pace and international experience to be a real handful.
Despite the cacophonous noises from across the water to the effect that the Irish teams hold a significant advantage when it comes to competing in the Heineken Cup (due to the relegation-free Rabo Direct), the English are very slow to acknowledge the fact that Munster and Leinster, who supply the majority of players to the national squad, are always left exposed and vulnerable in the opening round of the tournament due to the early restrictions imposed by the national management programme. Leinster are the side most affected at present and had the holders been forced to open their latest defence of the trophy away from home, even at debutants Exeter Chiefs’ atmospheric ground at Sandy Park, there is every chance they would have been beaten.
M unster were not so lucky but have nobody to blame for their defeat but themselves. This was not a game the Munster of old would have lost but the next generation have to earn their stripes and it is inevitable that days like last Saturday will have to be endured. Just think back to the harsh lessons the previous generation had to absorb before eventually delivering a Heineken Cup in 2006.
Saturday’s narrow win was a reality check for Leinster and they now have to guard against using their long injury list as a crutch. There is no doubt the loss of Sean O’Brien in particular and Rob Kearney have hit them hard but the side they fielded against the Chiefs was still a very experienced unit. Over the years, this Leinster squad have always bounced back from poor performances but I think Joe Schmidt will be extremely wary of Saturday’s visit to the Scarlets whose opening round defeat was distorted by Stoddard’s dismissal and the quality of their opponents.
Leinster appear to be lacking the type of spark provided in the recent past by the likes of Rocky Elsom and Brad Thorn and need to find inspiration fast as the Scarlets have serious firepower behind the scrum and appreciate that they will be effectively out of the tournament if they lose again next weekend.
In this column last Wednesday, I preached the necessity for Munster to achieve a bit more balance in their tactical approach, which definitely needed refining given the appalling conditions at the Stade de France. The state of the national stadium was a disgrace, with the surface of the pitch like something you would see in a re-run of Match of the Day from the 1970’s. The Aviva Stadium wasn’t too hot either for that matter when Munster played Leinster there last Saturday week, with the surface giving way under the players with embarrassing ease. It was a wonder that nobody was seriously injured.
The biggest injury suffered by Munster last weekend was to their pride as that opening contest against a very average Racing Metro side was theirs for the taking. The confidence shown by Rob Penney’s men in the opening quarter suggested they were well up for the contest but when the pressure came on after a series of unforced errors, Munster completely lost their way. In the crucial moments after Simon Zebo’s excellent try propelled them back into the lead, Munster lacked their traditional composure, not helped by the fact that, by that stage, Paul O’Connell and Ronan O’Gara were sitting in the stand.
Munster appeared to be caught in two minds at times and may be better served in training this week by sitting down as a collective, reviewing the DVD of the game in Paris and talking through the thought process that inspired some of the poor options taken at crucial times in the game. If the players can rationalise the thoughts that were going through their minds at the time and discuss what better options were available, then it may bring more clarity to their approach this weekend. Players must learn to adapt to the circumstances they find themselves in at any point in a game and realise that what you do in the opening 10 minutes compared to the last 10 can differ dramatically.
The big plus from to emerge from Paris was the scrummaging performance of Dave Kilcoyne, who acquitted himself admirably against the French tight head Luc Ducalcon. Over the last fortnight, Kilcoyne has stood up to the successive challenges posed by 46 times capped New Zealand prop John Afoa and our own Mike Ross in addition to the French man. You can’t buy that type of experience and the young UL Bohs man will have learned more in the last three games than in six months of training.
Munster’s next opponents, Edinburgh, have had an horrific fortnight, losing at home to Benetton Treviso in the Rabo before copping that humiliating 0-45 defeat by Saracens. That bonus point win has put Mark McCall’s side firmly in the driving seat in Munster’s pool and I suspect they will deal with the threat posed by Racing this weekend with a lot more assuredness than Munster. That means anything other than a Munster win on Sunday will spell curtains for qualification for another year.
