‘Last year we were hunting... now we are being hunted’

Garry Ringrose believes Bath poachers Sam Underhill and Francois Louw are every bit as dangerous a partnership at the breakdown as the celebrated Australian pairing of David Pocock and Michael Hooper.

Underhill and Louw made life a misery for Leinster at times at The Rec last Saturday.

Their ability to bury their noses into ruck after ruck slowed down Leinster’s play on a day already made difficult by the bad conditions and they turned over ball to boot.

“You mention someone like Pocock and you would put those guys right up there with them with the threat that they pose on the ball,” said Ringrose. “We saw how effective Underhill was for England through the autumn series and obviously Louw [with South Africa], so it is not too dissimilar.”

Bath are clinging on to hope of a knockout place by the skin of their teeth, having lost two and drawn one Pool One game so far, but head coach Todd Blackadder has intimated that they will fight against the dying of the light when they come to Dublin this week.

That would mean another outing for Underhill and Louw and, though Leinster are likely to mix things up in their back row, there is a recognition on Ringrose’s part that the onus lies with all of them to counter the Bath groundhogs.

Stronger, deeper carries with the ball would be a start, given the importance of front-foot ball, and there will be a need for the carrier to protect the ball that bit better at the Aviva Stadium. Improvements will be needed elsewhere too, but fixing that breakdown is key.

It’s such an important part of the game. You can have the best-laid plans, but if you don’t win your ball and you’re not able to get quick ball, it is tough to play. I wouldn’t even call it a tactic by them.

"They have world-class players in the positions where they can disrupt us. It wasn’t just against us. You see that with any team that Bath play against. They get huge access through that with the quality of players that they have. We were definitely conscious of it going into the game, but we probably even have a heightened awareness of the threats they have.

“Not just with Underhill and Louw. They have threats right across the pack and guys who can come on as well. If it wasn’t one of them putting pressure on at the breakdown, it was one of the backs or one of the other forwards as well.”

Ringrose’s lauding of Underhill and Louw is understandable given the pair’s performance and for the fact that this is what players do when speaking about opponents, but it was a point undermined when he went on to describe Bath as a ‘world-class’ team.

This is, to be clear, a side that has won one of its last 10 league and European Cup games. It’s form like that which makes Leinster’s struggles against them last week all the more puzzling, even accounting for the fact that it was on the road and the weather was so bad.

Then again, Toulouse also made Leinster suffer. Could it be that the province’s status as champions is lending opponents an extra 5% in motivation, that the fear of having a bad day against Leinster and the consequences of that is giving others an edge?

“I haven’t really thought about what other teams think.

Last year, we were striving for the top and we were hunting. If you are to apply that same analogy now, then we are being hunted off the back of last year, but we would have addressed that at the start of the season.

"Unfortunately what we achieved last season doesn’t bring much merit into games this year. It showed when we could have lost there last week had one or two things gone differently. We are aware that’s the case, that it doesn’t count for much once the whistle goes.

“I’ve yet to play in an easy European game. Even the ones we have won and put up a big score at the RDS, they have been incredibly tough games and as close to Test matches as you can get. Teams bring an extra 5% in any European game.”