We can beat anyone, insists Dempsey
“I think we have come on as a group in the last 12 months, have learned from some past mistakes and we’re now ready to take on anyone, anywhere,” he said.
The quarter-final victory over Toulouse and even the lessons learned from the semi-final defeat by Munster last year has brought a steely resolve to the Leinster squad, said Dempsey.
On an international level, the full back appeared to be under personal pressure at the start of the new season from Geordan Murphy, but he saw that challenge off to emerge as one of Ireland’s most consistent players in a season when eight from nine games were won.
The disappointment of losing a Six Nations title medal is clear and Dempsey wants to make up for that. He sees redemption through the Heineken Cup and Magners League — in that order.
Dempsey has had his share of playing against the best teams in the world at all levels. He relishes the challenge. “In international terms, you want to meet and beat the southern hemisphere teams — as well as England. In the Heineken Cup, you look to the likes of Munster and Ulster, a couple of teams in Wales, but also to the French and English clubs. You know at some stage, you’re going to have to play away and it’s important to take it on the chin and enjoy the challenge.
“Wasps are former champions and they’ve also won the Anglo-Welsh cup, so they’re not going to give us an easy ride. We’ve just got to raise the bar and relish the challenge.”
A week after starring for Ireland in Rome, Dempsey was back in the Leinster jersey to take on Connacht.
He was ready to play, even though he had an option of being rested. “I felt good, fresh and I decided I wanted to play.
“I think Leinster play a pretty exciting brand of rugby, just as Ireland do, and I wanted to continue on with that. It makes it easy to reintegrate yourself into a situation like that.”
It was also important, said Dempsey, to get straight back into action. He admitted the first-half performance against Connacht wasn’t pretty, but said Leinster had a good second half: “We got back into a situation where we played the type of rugby we’re capable of playing.”
A year on from their triumph in Toulouse, Dempsey is acutely aware that there is no guarantee of a repeat. “It’s different opposition, a new challenge. We’ve got to forget about last year and focus firmly, as we have been doing, on the type of team we’re playing this weekend. We’re at the stage where we feel we can play equally as well away from home as at home.”
Dempsey also feels that Ireland’s experiences in the Six Nations will help them. “Brian (O’Driscoll) will be a loss, but there is a lot of experience in this side. The Heineken Cup might fall a bit short of international matches, but it’s right up there in other ways in terms of intensity,” said Dempsey.
“There’s no real difference in terms of the mind set needed to compete.
“There is no doubt that we have improved a huge amount in the last year; this is an opportunity to see how far we have come.”
Meanwhile, coach Michael Cheika is well aware of the difficulty facing his side but he remained optimistic yesterday. “We always knew it was going to be a huge battle after failing to secure a home quarter final. We couldn’t have picked more formidable opponents than Wasps and we have to live with that. But we’ve had this game in the back of our minds for a long time; we’re prepared and we are ready.”
Fighting words, especially without talisman and captain O’Driscoll. But Leinster have learned how to win on the road, against Bath and Toulouse. They’re mentally tougher than they used to be, something more often their downfall than lack of talent.
It could be their day again.
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