Between Rocky and a hard place

IT’S mid-October and Leinster’s opening Heineken Cup defeat by London Irish at the RDS has been compounded five days later by a lengthy suspension for Shane Jennings for alleged contact with the eye area.

Having reacted furiously at the time of the alleged incident, London Irish lock Nick Kennedy subsequently admitted to having over-reacted. But the disciplinary committee was unmoved.

Jennings would be left to cool his heels for 12 weeks and, with Rocky Elsom already departed, Michael Cheika was suddenly operating without two-thirds of the rampaging back row that had helped deliver the Heineken Cup in May.

Here was a real test of the champions’ strength in depth and they have responded impressively. Their record since? Played eight, won six, lost two. Their form in Europe has been flawless with four wins on the spin.

There is a myriad of reasons for that but the new-look back row ticked along without missing a beat. Jamie Heaslip has continued the form that earned him a nomination for world player of the year in 2009, while Sean O’Brien and Kevin McLaughlin slipped in seamlessly on either side.

“It definitely felt good,” says McLaughlin of the last three months. “I have played with Sean O’Brien for years and I obviously like playing with him. The two of us work well together and we have an inspirational player like Jamie in between. That makes life easier as well.

“Myself and Sean would be relatively raw compared to him. The three of us worked very well as a unit. Jamie’s experience and then mine and Sean’s raw effort, just getting stuck in and feeling the excitement of playing with these guys at that level, it worked quite well at that level.”

McLaughlin and O’Brien first scrummed down together at UCD at a time when both were struggling to break into the Leinster first-team squad and they have soldiered side by side for a couple of campaigns with the province’s ‘A’ squad as well.

Interestingly, McLaughlin’s own style of play morphs, depending on who is wearing the number seven jersey. O’Brien tends to carry a lot of ball, leaving McLaughlin to hit more rucks, whereas the roles are reversed when Jennings suits up.

“You adapt your game based on who you are playing with and I know Jamie is going to carry a lot of ball anyway. That always takes pressure off. I think we have really good combinations based on who we’re playing.”

That versatility has been one of the reasons McLaughlin has made the number six jersey his own after Elsom’s return to Australia, but he has been at pains this season to dispel the notion that he is Rocky’s replacement.

As he says himself, Elsom was the kind of player who could do two or three things – a bullocking run here, a seismic tackle there – to change the pattern of an entire game whereas the Irishman sees himself as more of a grafter.

Cheika has made the same point and that has allowed the 25-year-old to concentrate on his own game. He has 23 appearances to his credit now and admits to feeling more comfortable at this level with every game.

“I am really happy with the way things are going, but I want to keep improving. I am very conscious of not sitting back and resting on my laurels, especially now Jennings is back. There is a huge amount of competition and you just can’t afford to sit back.”

Not with London Irish and Steffon Armitage next on the agenda.

The Exiles flanker made life a misery for the Leinster grunts in Dublin 14 weeks ago. Indeed, the image of Armitage draped over ruck after ruck slowing ball down remains burnt in McLaughlin’s brain.

“Yeah, we have spoken about it this week. I remember speaking in the press conference after the game about how we were just too slow at the breakdown so we are going to be very focused on making sure they don’t slow up our ball as much this time, getting our clean-our right, getting our body right, those sort of things.”

Last week’s joust with Brive has prepared them well. The French side had nothing to play for but pride at the RDS, but Alix Popham and Antoine Claasens didn’t hold back in the physical exchanges.

A good deal has been made of the permutations in Pool Six ahead of today’s meeting but pride will count for as much as points when Leinster put on their game faces come 6pm.

That much was evident from McLaughlin’s response when he was asked if Irish had “pissed” the champions off by mugging them at home in last October’s physical encounter.

Most players would run a mile from such an incendiary phrase.

Not the Dubliner.

“No, you are right, they definitely did piss us off. We are very proud of our home record and losing there really hurts. After losing at home we definitely want to get our own back and win on their home patch.

“And also the fact that we haven’t qualified yet and we don’t want to be thinking what if this happens or that happens. We are very much focused on being in control of our own destiny, winning on Saturday and going on from there.”