Leinster ready for Le Crunch

NO prizes for guessing what the Leinster brains trust was up to on Sunday afternoon around about 4pm.

With the Tigers sent back to Leicester to lick their wounds, Joe Schmidt and his staff had the luxury of sitting down to watch their next European opponents duke it out in an all-French battle on the Spanish soil of San Sebastian.

They may be five points clear at the summit of the Top 14 and within 160 minutes of retaining their European crown after the extra-time defeat of Perpignan, but there is a theory out there that Toulouse are actually an ageing team, one with their peak behind them.

“I don’t think so,” was Leinster forwards coach Jono Gibbes’ take on that.

“They’ve got a pretty experienced coach there (in Guy Noves). He knows how to juggle his roster and move players on and bring players in, so I doubt he’s going to be stuck with a team that’s over the hill.”

So, what did he make of Sunday’s 100 minutes in the Basque territory?

“We had a quick look through the game, sort of had one eye on it. Obviously still going through a bit of our stuff from Saturday night. It’s quite good having played, qualified, then feet up and you can watch the other guys battle it out.

“They sort of took the initiative and then let Biarritz back in and then closed it down. They’re pretty tough and obviously it’s a quality roster they’ve got. It’s going to be a big challenge in a couple of weeks time.”

There were few gasps when Gibbes played down any suggestions that revenge might be on Leinster’s minds, given the fact it was Toulouse who relieved the Irish side of their European title at the penultimate stage last year.

But Leinster are in much better shape for what will be the ninth meeting between the sides.

Last May they travelled to the south of France without the injured Jonathan Sexton and with a creaking scrum that was ripped from its hinges by the home pack.

“They’re pack isn’t all that different to Leicester in that they have a very strong setpiece,” said Kevin McLaughlin, the back row who played 66 minutes that day and an impressive 67 at the weekend against the Premiership leaders.

“They killed us in the scrums last year and they have a real strong lineout as well. On top of that, they pretty much have the entire French three-quarter line as well, so it is going to be a serious test.”

Leinster have appointments with Ulster this weekend and Aironi seven days later before turning their attention to the Heineken Cup again but they appear to be in better physical and mental shape than when they last met Noves’ side.

There were no serious injury concerns to report when the squad reconvened for a light run out yesterday evening despite the ferocious physical effort required to pull through 17-10 at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday evening.

Gordon D’Arcy (shoulder), try-scorer Isa Nacewa (foot) and Brian O’Driscoll (nose) were all expected to resume training after picking up their minor knocks while Shane Jennings will surely feature against Ulster after returning to training recently.

Schmidt would probably love to restrict some of his front-line troops to light duties this week given so many have come through a full Six Nations campaign and successive bruisers against Munster and Leicester but it isn’t quite so simple.

The province lies fourth in the Magners League with just three rounds left to play and, with Munster 12 points clear, five teams are still in contention for the remaining three play-off spots. A win this Saturday is clearly essential.

Ulster are currently in second, three points north of their hosts at the RDS in five days’ time and, with all that in mind, it was no surprise to hear Gibbes say that Leinster were in no position to mollycoddle their roster just now.

“It was such a big game (against Leicester) they’ll probably take an extra day to recover than normal. We’ll just assess who’s bounced back and who’s a little drained but we need to prepare as a pack for a key battle for our Magners season. It’s almost like another quarter-final for us.”

Ulster reported injury concerns for locks Johann Muller and Dan Tuohy after their quarter-final defeat to Northampton on Sunday but the Ravenhill men will be nursing wounded pride as well as they seek to further their ambitions in the one route left open to them.

“Rory (Best) has already alluded to that after the game,” said Gibbes. “They’re even more determined now to refocus and win the rest of their games and challenge for the Magners play-offs.

“We’re very focused and hungry as well so it will be a big battle.”