Irish provinces digging in to keep up with deep European pockets
If we were feeling deflated after recent events in England and Wales, that won’t be eased much by the sprinkling of some of the southern hemisphere’s finest around Europe — well, France and England to be precise — as a plethora of the game’s top players call a halt to their international careers, for the time being at least.
World champions New Zealand lead the exodus, with Conrad Smith and Colin Slade heading to Pau to link up with a clutter of former Munster men. Ma’a Nonu is off to Toulon and Ben Franks to London Irish.
World Rugby’s player of the year Dan Carter is Paris-bound to fill Johnny Sexton’s vacant No 10 shirt at Racing 92 after reserving his best form in years for the knockout phase of New Zealand’s extended stranglehold on world domination. In contrast to Sexton, he looks at peace with himself and will prove a massive draw for the Parisians. His annual salary is also set to triple what the NZRU could afford to pay him.
It’s been a difficult time for Sexton, with that groin injury scuppering his World Cup ambitions just as he looked primed to take off after playing a blinder in Ireland’s opener against Canada.
Unfortunately, 25 minutes into the key pool game against France, his tournament came to a shuddering halt, as Ireland’s latest challenge for a place in the semi-finals began to unravel due to a calamitous sequence of injuries to key personnel.
Sport is cruel, but Sexton should take solace from the fact that Carter was left in the same position during the 2011 event, when his World Cup dream was shattered due to a similar injury. It may have taken him four years to exorcise that horrible moment, but it only served to make Carter’s coronation at Twickenham all the sweeter.
Sexton must leave the past behind and concentrate on leading the way forward for Leinster on a European stage they dominated only a few seasons ago. Things have changed appreciably in the time since he departed the scene in 2013. Europe is no longer the preserve of the Irish provinces and for Munster, Leinster and Ulster, advancing from their respective pools will now feel like an achievement in itself.
Leinster face a monumental challenge over the next few months, not least in their December back-to-back jousts against Europe’s top side, Toulon. The holders’ back line is sprinkled with some of the brightest stars to grace the 2015 World Cup, even if doubts surround the availability of Matt Giteau for the opening rounds in Europe, after he was forced off in the World Cup final with concussion.
Toulon were looking to start him at out-half, but the cover available to Bernard Laporte in that pivotal role shows just why they are odds-on favourites to win a fourth European Cup in a row. Take your choice: Behind Giteau at present sit fellow Wallabies Quade Cooper and James O’Connor, French World Cup out-half Freddie Michalak and new signing, All Black Tom Taylor. Talk about being spoilt for choice.
Cooper delivered a man-of-the-match performance on his debut in the 52-8 hammering of Montpellier last weekend, despite being short several regulars, having finally committed himself to the club after a prolonged and, at times, poisonous transfer saga.
That said, Leinster boast 20 players who formed part of a World Cup squad when Rhys Ruddock, Mike McCarthy and Isaac Boss were injury-enforced additions to the original 16 chosen, along with full back Zane Kirchner, who featured at the event for South Africa. That is an incredibly strong starting point for new head coach Leo Cullen and it is one of the reasons they look best positioned of the Irish provinces to challenge for honours. Cullen has done well to deliver five wins from seven in the Guinness Pro12 in the World Cup phase, given the number of quality players unavailable to him. That period has served to highlight the fact that Gary Ringrose, Cian Kelleher and Noel Reid are ready to challenge the more established names for places behind the scrum.
Getting out of Pool 5, where Wasps and Bath look stronger than they have been for years, will prove their most challenging proposition all year. If Cullen can engineer that, then anything is possible.
Ironically, with far fewer personnel involved, the World Cup took a heavier toll on Munster, with the loss of Tommy O’Donnell in the first warm-up game of the campaign and captain Peter O’Mahony, who was having a blinder, against France. Couple that with the departure of Paul O’Connell and the injury-enforced retirement of Felix Jones, and you have a traumatic few months for Anthony Foley.
At least Donnacha Ryan will feel like a new signing having missed most of last season, while Keith Earls had a very productive tournament. The time has come for him to step forward and assume a leadership role within this squad. He has the capacity to spark new things in a Munster back line that has enjoyed a fresh injection of pace and off-loading ability with the exciting recruitment of Francis Saili.
Gerhart Van Den Heever’s progress has been stifled by injury since his arrival, but the pace he showed recently in rounding Ulster’s Andrew Trimble bodes well. If he can conquer a tendency to lose concentration in his defensive duties, he too can add greatly to Munster’s attacking potential. Central to that will be the role identified for Tyler Bleyendaal. Despite being signed over a year ago, we are still in the dark as to what that might be.
The presence of Guinness Pro12 basement side Treviso, who have lost all seven of their opening games in this season’s tournament, suggests that two sides will definitely advance from Pool 4 and that offers Munster a bit of leeway.
French Top 14 champions Stade Francais have had a slow start to their domestic season, but they too have been active in the transfer market and welcome Wallaby scrum-half Will Ginea, while Springbok powerhouse Willem Alberts joins Sergio Parisse in an already-impressive back row.
As if to highlight the great divide, Munster’s World Cup influx is confined to the temporary singing of Argentina’s reserve full-back Lucas Amorosino and Uruguayan prop Mario Sagario, who impressed when introduced against Edinburgh last weekend.
Ulster have waited 16 months for Les Kiss to take up his appointment as head coach in succession to Mark Anscombe, but, I suspect, the wait will be worth it and will prove a prudent bit of business by the Ulster hierarchy. They too have a difficult pool from which two clubs should also advance. The problem is that they must pip perennial qualifiers Saracens or a rejuvenated looking Toulouse, who enter Europe for the first time in the 20-year history of the tournament without Guy Noves at the helm. The injuries picked up in the World Cup by Tommy Bowe, Jared Payne and Iain Henderson will not help their cause, but at least the highly-rated Stuart McCloskey will get a chance to make a name for himself in midfield.
At least the much-discussed north/south divide at the World Cup was dictated by talent alone, as SANZAR’S finest, along with Argentina, who boasted an entire squad of players born in the country, dazzled us with an impressive mix of skill, power and pace.
The ever-increasing divide in the European club scene, exemplified by the new recruits in Toulon, is driven purely by finance and we in Ireland are finding it very difficult to stay the pace.
However, there is a lot to be said for representing where you come from. That mix of pride and tradition has always stood the Irish provinces in good stead, but unfortunately it may not be enough to reignite the glory days of triumphs past.
