‘Passionate’ Cheika not for turning

MICHAEL CHEIKA has dismissed two recent sideline incidents involving himself and assistant coach David Knox as storms in a teacup and claims the Australian pair will not be altering their style of management.

Cheika is said to have encroached on the sideline and abused officials at the Celtic League game between Leinster and Munster on New Year’s Eve, while Knox allegedly made derogatory comments to Bath supporters at last Sunday’s Heineken Cup match at the Recreation Ground.

“You know me, I’ve tried to be a pretty courteous chap most of my life. We build a lot of things on respect here. I’m passionate about the team winning. It’s a very emotional game and, for that moment, I let my emotions get away from me. The referee was very mature about it,” said Cheika of the incident during the Munster match.

He admitted that himself and Knox tended to get animated and that might not be to everyone’s taste.

“We get very switched on,” he explained. “We’re very motivated for our team to do well. We enjoy our team doing well and when they perform well we’re as excited as anyone, jumping up and down out of our seats.

“I know that might not be the norm for coaches. The expectation is that coaches sit back and react cooly to the game. I like to see the staff animated and the players animated. I like that we’re all hungry for wins.”

Cheika will be hoping his team show the same appetite for tomorrow’s low key Celtic League game against the Borders as they did for their Heineken Cup appointments earlier this month.

The last time Leinster returned to Celtic League duty devoid of internationals on Irish duty “we got our asses kicked”, as Cheika put it bluntly. This time, only four Leinster players are away on national duty after yesterday’s announcement of the squad of 22 to take on Italy on Saturday week.

However, the Leinster coach is now faced with the job of lifting the likes of Denis Hickie, Reggie Corrigan, Guy Easterby, Jamie Heaslip and Rob Kearney, all deemed surplus to requirements for now by Eddie O’Sullivan.

“The players I’ve spoken to so far are very motivated to get back in and prove their case for the next game as well. I don’t think that those guys consider themselves out of the picture totally,” said Cheika, who refused to discuss the possibility of a Heineken Cup semi-final with Munster or even the April trip to Toulouse.

“It’s my responsibility to get them back into the swing of things as soon as possible, from a motivation point of view and from a technical point of view. Any issues that may have cost them a place in the 22 will be addressed because I see that as part of my role.”

The other priority this week - apart from securing another victory tomorrow night - is the blooding of some raw talent. To that end, people like wing-forward Niall Ronan and wing-cum-centre Gary Brown will probably get a rare opportunity to impress with the firsts.

Cheika has delved even beyond his ‘A’ team though. Academy members Stephen Grissing, Kevin McLaughlin and Ross McCarron all trained alongside the first team squad this week as did 6’ 10” second row Devin Toner and out-half Jonathan Sexton, both of whom have been rewarded with a place in the squad for the visit of the Scottish side.

LEINSTER: Forwards - R Corrigan, R McCormack, B Blaney, D Blaney, W Green, B Williams, A Byrnes, B Gissing, D Toner, E Miller, C Potts, N Ronan, K Gleeson, J Heaslip.

Backs: G Easterby, B O’Riordan, B O’Meara, F Contepomi, J Sexton, E Hickey, G Brown, J Hepworth, K Lewis, B Burke, R Kearney, D Hickie.