Ulster defeat highlights nature of job ahead for Leinster

Leinster's Ryan Baird dejected.

There was a familiar scent to Leinster’s loss to Ulster on New Year’s Day earlier this week. Go back 36 months and they were suffering the same January blues after an Irish out-half’s boot proved pivotal in raiding the RDS.

For Jack Carty’s 25 points in Connacht’s win at the start of 2021 we can echo Billy Burns’ kicking masterclass from the hand last Monday as Ulster managed a second win in three attempts at the historic Ballsbridge venue.

“We need to be better,” said Leo Cullen both times.

What Cullen and Leinster do not want is for history to repeat itself again come May. Go back those three seasons and they claimed a URC title with a final defeat of Munster but fell short where it mattered most, in Europe, with a semi-final loss to La Rochelle in France.

Two barren campaigns since have only concentrated minds further.

The warnings have been there for most of the current campaign, even as Leinster sandwiched defeats to Glasgow on opening day and this reversal to the northern province with nine straight wins that included a cathartic win away to the La Rochelle nemesis.

There are obvious reasons as to why. The World Cup impeded preparations, not just in terms of the wholesale number of players absent on Ireland duties, but in the late arrival of Jacques Nienaber and his co-opting onto the coaching staff.

Johnny Sexton’s retirement has left them with holes to fill on the pitch and in the dressing-room and Cullen himself acknowledged that they haven’t been firing on all cylinders in the wake of a victory at home to an understrength Sale that was closer than anyone expected.

That they are still top of the URC table and well-sited in their Champions Cup pool despite all this is a testament to their class, but Leinster need to tighten screws now in mid-season if they are not to come unhinged again come the longer evenings.

“We’ve a lot of belief in the quality of our players and coaching staff,” said Caelan Doris in the wake of that Ulster hiccup. “Even looking back at some of our recent performances, we’ve got the results but they haven’t been great performances.

“A lot of that comes from our training and our training habits and leading into the game. It’s not how we want to start the New Year off but we’ve got two big exciting games coming up. It’s not the worst thing in the way at this stage of the season to have a proper look at ourselves and a reflection and improve things.” The break this weekend, with no URC games down for decision, will be a welcome one for all the teams after a hectic run of fixtures from the end of the World Cup through the festive period and Leinster will be no different.

Ten days between their wins against Sale and Munster last month aside, it has been pedal to the mettle since Nienaber started work in Dublin and the manner in which Burns and Ulster defanged his rush defence last Monday showed a work in progress.

That shouldn’t be any surprise. The job of integrating a new system mid-season is an amalgam of logistics, part art and part science, and all the more so given Leinster have used 40 players in the four games since the South African has come on board.

“It’s still a new system,” said Doris. “We’re still getting used to the way Jacques wants us to learn, by making mistakes, by throwing us in the deep end and learning through mistakes, as opposed to being a little bit cautious and not fully committing to it.

“It’s bound to happen at the start. We’re still only four games in with Jacques and it will evolve as you go on. We enjoy it and it’s an exciting way to defend as well. The mindset is to get the ball back always as well.” Bernard Jackman once said that it takes a year to embed a defensive system and twice that to put the last touches on an attack. Leinster have had problems in the opposition 22 as well, but they don’t have anything like a year to fine tune their efforts on either side of the ball.

The next few months will be crucial.