Cheika set for ’Quins challenge

IT CAME as a surprise yesterday when Michael Cheika admitted there was a touch of nervousness in the Leinster squad when they gathered for training on Monday morning.

The Australian has spent four years diluting the significance of every big game the province have played, burying each one under an avalanche of cliches, but there can be no disguising the import of Sunday’s visit to the Stoop.

The Magners League was all but ceded to Munster in Thomond Park on Saturday but it is Europe where Leinster have longed to succeed for so long and their desperation has grown with each premature exit.

Defeat this weekend would prompt question marks over the coaching ticket despite the fact Cheika signed on for two more years last March, re-jigged his backroom team and continues to blood promising, young Irish talent.

So, with Harlequins living it up near the summit of the Guinness Premiership, Sunday’s Heineken Cup quarter-final is a game where Leinster could do with a full complement but news on the injury front is mixed.

Most encouraging was confirmation that Brian O’Driscoll (neck, wear and tear) trained yesterday and has a “good chance” of being fit, according to the coach.

Luke Fitzgerald (shoulder) was also involved yesterday but his input was more limited and a decision on the youngster will wait until tomorrow when more will also be known about Bernard Jackman’s knee.

Cheika admitted: “Bernard hasn’t trained this week and he’s probably more doubtful than the others. He got a big knock (against Munster) and suffered lots of swelling. Our medical staff are doing a lot of work with him around the clock.”

Definitely out is prop CJ van der Linde whose toe has failed to heal in time. The South African is a loss but Leinster have learned to cope without him throughout his injury-curtailed season.

Cheika seemed hopeful that the former Springbok could be ready in time for a potential semi-final in three weeks’ time but that will be a moot point if the Irish province fails to get the job done in London.

Harlequins, even away from home, was perceived as being a ‘decent’ draw at first but that opinion has had to be revised. Second in their domestic league, they have lost once at home all season.

Against that, the visitors have won just twice on their last 10 European trips but Cheika was in no mood to dwell on the daunting statistics being put together by the English side of late.

“They’re a very good team and they’ve shown that. Their position in the Premiership is justified by how they’ve performed this season and particularly in the last three months.

“They’ve gone on a great run and it’s going to be a big test for us over there. Playing away from home in a European tie is difficult and we understand the focus for us is on ourselves.”

It was actually a game that Harlequins won away from home last weekend — hours before Leinster’s disappointing reversal against Munster — that sums up the task facing Cheika and his players.

Quins 19-3 defeat of Bath at the Recreation Ground was the heaviest the hosts had suffered at home since Northampton had 17 points to spare back in March of 2003 but the manner of it was even more impressive than the margin.

’Quins soaked up phase after phase of Bath pressure, including one 10-minute spell in the second-half when down to 10 men, to show just why their defence is ranked in the top two in the Premiership.

It was a performance that bore all the trademarks of their coach Dean Richards who has transformed a team which was previously portrayed as a soft touch into one which positively relishes physical combat.

Said Cheika: “They have lots of pace all over the park at nine, 10, centres, wings, full-back, back row. They have a very strong back row. You play it to them and you’re playing into a danger area. I would say they have an underestimated tight five. People don’t give them the credit they deserve. I have watched a lot of their games and their tight five have been impeccable.

“If you look at the game that they played at Bath last weekend where the coach obviously said to them ‘this is the pack that everyone has to raise themselves against in England so go and get them’ and they ate them.”

Leinster’s pack have followed a similar path in earning the respect of others in recent seasons — and, O’Driscoll and Fitzgerald permitting — Cheika will have a full backline from which to choose for the first time this season.

A tough assignment then, but not mission impossible.

LEINSTER SQUAD: Forwards: C Healy, R McCormack, B Jackman, J Fogarty, O le Roux, S Wright, L Cullen, T Hogan, M O’Kelly, R Elsom, C Jowitt, S Jennings, S O’Brien, J Heaslip.

Back: C Keane, C Whitaker, F Contepomi, J Sexton, L Fitzgerald, Simon Keogh, G D’Arcy, B O’Driscoll, S Horgan, I Nacewa, G Dempsey, R Kearney.