O’Driscoll pays tribute to departing Cheika’s efforts
Cheika’s arrival was considered a gamble when he replaced Declan Kidney in 2005 at a time when morale in Leinster was plumbing new depths due to the regular managerial musical chairs and divisions within the squad.
Having reached the Heineken Cup semi-final in 2003, the province subsequently failed to escape the group stages a year later and they were soundly beaten by Leicester in Lansdowne Road in a 2005 quarter-final.
The province was drifting.
Stability and a long-term vision were needed badly and the Australian delivered, firstly with an incredible last eight win in Toulouse in his first season and, most memorably, with outright victory in Edinburgh last May.
There were nauseating lows at times too – like the group stage elimination in 2008 – but Cheika leaves knowing he changed the entire structure, culture and even the perception surrounding the outfit.
O’Driscoll admitted: “He brought us a belief and he brought us a European Cup.
“He brought us to a final and three semi-finals in his five years. He’s done wonders for us as a team.
“Hopefully we can step on when Joe (Schmidt) comes in next year.”
He added: “Michael will bring an organisation to Stade (Francais) next year. It will probably take him a bit of time to adjust to things over there but he’s a very fine coach and it’s very enjoyable playing under him.”
Cheika’s legacy is a solid one. When people talk about the European heavyweights, Leinster are habitually one of the names to roll off the tongue alongside the likes of Toulouse, Munster and Leicester.
That expectation levels have soared was obvious again at the weekend when players and supporters alike could rue a defeat to the accepted aristocrats of the French and continental game in their own back yard.
“When you’ve won a European Cup, you get used to the ring of being European champions, but we’re not any more,” said O’Driscoll.
“Someone else is going to be and that’s a disappointment. We’ll try and regroup and we still have the opportunity of winning the Magners League, so we have to take this disappointment and move on.”
Like Munster at this very same stage last season, Leinster have been chasing silverware on two fronts all season before coming a cropper at the penultimate European hurdle.
No side has yet managed to do the Magners/Heineken double and it was put to the Irish captain that the twin assault may have been in some way responsible for their elimination at Le Stadium Municipal.
“Absolutely no factor whatsoever,” he responded. “This was about one game and a team that took their opportunities and a team that didn’t. On another day we could have taken those and it might have been tighter at the death. We could be talking about being in a final and being in a semi-final of another competition but that’s not the case so we’ll have to make do with trying to win a Magners League this season.”
O’Driscoll went on to talk about “small margins” and, in particular, Eoin Reddan’s near miss in the first-half when he dropped the ball inches from the line but it was a rare ‘what if’ on a day when Toulouse were full value for the win.
The centre was honest enough to hold his hand up for the entire back line and accept that had, at times, been complicit in the downfall but it was up front where Leinster’s grip on the trophy was fatally weakened.
“The disappointment from an outside back’s point of view is that you want to be able to attack with your best skills set and perhaps we weren’t able to do that and give it a proper go, but that’s through no fault …
“We win and lose as a team and we made a couple of bad errors ourselves in defence. We made some bad decisions that didn’t help our pack out so you have to accept it as a side.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
