Blues ready to reap the fruits of Feek labour

GREG FEEK has earned his crust since leaving New Zealand and his post with the Hurricanes by moving to Dublin to find a cure for Leinster — and then Ireland’s — ailing scrums.

Joe Schmidt’s eight have already packed down opposite the beef of Racing Metro, Saracens, Clermont Auvergne and Munster to name but a few and none have come close to inflicting the type of damage Clermont and Toulouse managed late last season.

If anything, Feek’s charges have been the ones dropping calling cards, with the Irish scrum’s devastation of their English counterparts at the start of last month’s Six Nations game standing as the prime example of that.

Half of that Irish scrum consisted of players who will return to the Aviva on Saturday evening to take on the Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Cup’s first knockout round and Feek has little hesitation in labelling it as the pack’s toughest scrummaging examination to date.

“Yeah, definitely. Like I said before the international series, that was daunting as well with the French front row and everyone else. We’ve just got to make sure again we go into it in those physical contests. We can’t have any doubt in confidence.”

When news broke of Marcos Ayerza’s suspension, which will keep him out of the quarter-final, Feek must have allowed himself a sly grin, given the Argentinian prop’s importance to Richard Cockerill’s side.

Kiwi-born and England-qualified Boris Stankovich is Ayerza’s likely replacement at loosehead but there is likely to be more focus on the far side of the set-piece, where Cian Healy will recommence battle with Martin Castrogiovanni.

The Italian is a wily old warrior and he gave the young Irishman a tough time in that department when the national sides met in Rome’s Stadio Flaminio last February but his scrummaging techniques have come in for some criticism in the past.

Australian coach Robbie Deans complained about the 29-year old getting “too much pay for rolling in” after the November international in Florence, while the IRB’s referee manager Paddy O’Brien was prompted to say that his technique was illegal following a previous complaint by New Zealand.

“I think he scrums pretty well,” said Feek. “He scrums low, he’s got a strong back, a strong body.

“It’s a funny one. If he’s up against a guy who starts doing stuff then he’s got to be able to deal with that too.

“So the majority of the time I don’t see too many problems with him.”

Illegal or not, Castrogiovanni has established a reputation as one of the top tight-heads in the world but Feek demonstrated his loyalty and faith in Leinster’s own number three when asked if he would take the Italian ahead of Mike Ross.

It was the only answer he could have conceivably given but it is to Ross’ credit that it was one that did not smack completely of hot air and spoke volumes for just how quickly the former Harlequins prop has come to the fore this season.

“Yeah, he’s come on well, Rossy. I didn’t even know much about him when I first arrived here. Like I said before, it was ‘Mike Who?’ back in August when he was mentioned to me. Obviously I’d be down on the other side of the world.”

There was a lot Feek didn’t know about northern hemisphere rugby when he first arrived in Dublin. Like a lot of Tri Nations veterans he knew about the Heineken Cup but had no understanding of just how big a deal it was.

So much will hinge on what Feek does with his players on the training paddock. No pressure, then.

“Pressure? I don’t know. It’s competition, you know, that’s what rugby is about. It’s about being competitive. It’s a challenge. It’s like that every week.”