Rocky on a roll after rough start

UNTIL last Saturday, Rocky Elsom might have had doubts about whether his move to Leinster was a wise one.

It was bad enough losing his debut game to Heineken Cup champions Munster, but worse again a week later against Connacht at the Sportsground.

On a personal level, Connacht out half Ian Keatley rubbed salt into the wounds when he tackled the big Australian from behind to force a turnover and save a certain match-winning try.

After that, the possibility of losing a third successive game did cross Elsom’s mind as he prepared for Leinster’s opening European clash against Edinburgh at Murrayfield last weekend.

Happily, the doubts were dispelled within 20 minutes in the first half as Leinster took inspiration from Elsom’s 18th-minute opener and scored four tries to secure the win and take a bonus point.

Afterwards, there was a sense of relief as much as satisfaction.

“It was important to get the win,” he says, “we hit a bit of a lull in Galway and everyone was keen to make amends. It was a relief to get the Heineken Cup challenge off to a positive start.”

But Elsom believes Leinster will need to improve considerably to match London Wasps at the RDS tomorrow (5.30pm).

“That (Edinburgh) wasn’t a perfect performance by a long shot; we took our chances in the first half and that helped us get home. But Edinburgh proved they’re not a mug side and fought back well.”

But Elsom was encouraged by the determination not to concede tries from play — Leinster’s concession was a penalty try awarded by referee Rob Debney for deliberate offside.

Praising Leinster, the Australian cites vigorous defence as one of the major differences between the hemispheres. “I think the crucial difference is that here you are more often than not running against a full and set defensive line. Where I’ve just come from, and particularly in the Tri-Nations, it’s very hard to keep the defensive line set, so there are more opportunities (to score),” he said.

Yet, Elsom has also been impressed by Leinster’s ability to run in tries, and with the overall commitment to an attacking style of play.

“I think turnover ball is always pretty hard to defend against because the defensive line isn’t set as it should be. I thought we were pretty good on the counter against Edinburgh.

“It’s good to see that kind of rugby, it suits me. I like to be involved with teams willing to have a crack, I think that’s a good quality to have.”

If swift counter-attacking is one of Leinster’s preferred options, Elsom doesn’t see too many opportunities on offer tomorrow.

While he is new to European rugby, he has enough background knowledge to recognise that Wasps will come looking for physical confrontation and place emphasis on a mean defence.

“I don’t think we will find it as easy to turn them over; maybe that could be an important difference between last week and this. It’s going to be a different type of challenge and that could be a good thing as it will force us to be a bit more creative in finding ways of breaking them down and creating more opportunities,” he said.

He expects it to be a particularly intense match between two quality teams but is confident that Leinster can cope with the pace and the physicality that will be demanded.

“Our training — and it came as a surprise to me from the time I arrived — has been very intense and geared to match situations. It’s a long season here and I perhaps thought training wouldn’t be quite as vigorous as it is, particularly for the guys who will also be playing Test rugby. Hopefully, all the hard work will be rewarded in terms of results going forward,” he added.