D’Arcy: We must get monkey off our backs

RABODIRECT PRO12 SEMI-FINAL:

There would be no need for verbs, adverbs or adjectives.

It is no lineout code, nor is it a segment of some fixture list but the run of defeats the province has suffered in the last three Celtic league finals, whether they be Magners or RaboDirect PRO12.

It is a bad sequence for a side that has dominated Europe since its maiden Heineken Cup triumph in 2009 and it is a fact not lost on the players as they face Glasgow Warriors in the RaboDirect play-off at the RDS this evening before turning their attention to the Amlin Challenge decider and Stade Francais.

“We have lost it three times,” says Gordon D’Arcy simply. “That is a huge monkey on our back as a club. It’s a real slight on us. We take it as a sleight that we haven’t been able to back it up and win. This is a series of three games for us and there is a huge potential at the end of this. This game comes first.”

It is faintly ridiculous that only ten of the current Leinster squad can claim to be in possession of Celtic League medals and, of that number, only seven of those involved today played a significant part in the 2007/’08 campaign when their title was overshadowed by Munster’s second success in Europe.

Consider for a moment some of the Leinster players who do not have a Celtic League title on their CV: Cian Healy, Ian Madigan, Fergus McFadden, Isa Nacewa, Sean O’Brien, Eoin Reddan and Mike Ross.

It’s not just a slight, it is an anomaly. An affront to a side that has bossed the competition for vast tracts of the last four campaigns.

But first things first, eh?

D’Arcy makes all the right noises about giving due respect and consideration to an opponent which has finished just eight points worse off on the scoreboard over two meetings with Leinster this year and yet he finds it difficult to rein in his enthusiasm for a competition that seems to be eking out a bigger niche for itself in a rugby landscape dominated by Europe and Test dates.

“As far as talking about the PRO12 as a competition it is a huge opportunity to win silverware. Our domestic league is growing every year. If you look at the ticket sales for this weekend, 10,000 have sold in the last four or five days; another 8,000 going to go in the next couple of days. Sky Sports taking it on in the future. This league is growing. You want to be one of those teams who has eight, nine, 10, 12 wins as the seasons tick on.”

That will depend to a large degree on Matt O’Connor, the man tasked with the job of replacing the irreplaceable Joe Schmidt next season, even if everything D’Arcy has picked up through the grapevine suggests a coach none too dissimilar to the current incumbent.

A different coach brings a different challenge and offers new avenues to explore, even for a player of D’Arcy’s experience, but the immediate focus is Glasgow and, in theory, back-to-back finals which would offer a potentially upbeat ending for Schmidt.

“Yeah, and there is a big transition in the squad and yet great continuity as well. Being involved with Leinster for so many years when we weren’t within a sniff of winning a trophy, it has been great to be involved the last while when we’ve been lucky to win a few.

“Joe has really kicked on this team to greater standards and Jono [Gibbes] as well behind the scenes. It would be a fitting reward to Joe after all the stuff he has given us.”

And for this group of players, too.