Leinster still building towards peak performance

Luke McGrath of Leinster during the United Rugby Championship match between Munster and Leinster at Thomond Park. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

As descriptions go it was superb. 

“Brilliantly boring” was the phrase Denis Leamy used to describe Leinster before Munster played host to their neighbours in a URC interpro derby at Thomond Park last Saturday.

The game didn’t go well for the hosts four days later, Leinster easing their way to what was ultimately a very comfortable 28-7 bonus-point victory and chalking up their sixth successive victory in Limerick.

But Leamy’s description of Leo Cullen’s side rang as true after the final whistle as it did before the first. 

Cullen, who had the current Munster defence coach on his Leinster staff for three years, could afford to chuckle when it was suggested that Leamy’s opinion was meant as a compliment.

“I don’t know about that,” the Leinster head coach laughed. “I think Leams knew what he was saying there. That was just the old stirring the pot there. You know it as well. He knows it, you know it. I know exactly what he was doing.” 

We can all see it. Leinster have changed. There is less of the rapier that was employed for so long under Stuart Lancaster’s watch. It had been superseded by the bludgeon and, with that, an emphasis on the blitz defence trademarked by Jacques Nienaber.

This is a grittier Leinster operation. The last three years threw up some superb rugby but delivered nothing in the way of silverware. It’s probably inevitable that they would try something different, even if the margins between success and failure have been so slim.

“We want to develop all parts of our game,” said Cullen. “So that is setpieces, attack, defence, all of it. The transition game. You can see there was some good opportunities [against Munster] that we didn’t quite nail. That’s the bit we need to keep working on.

“It has been a challenge. We’ll take the blame [as coaches] maybe. If you think of the first six games of the season we worked with a group over pre-season and then you have international guys back late after South Africa. They don’t play until round three.

“So you are using a lot of players through that first block. Then the internationals are gone again and back in again so that’s the bit we just need to understand… We need to set ourselves up to succeed when it comes to the biggest games.

“That collective bit is the part we need to improve but that’s where the real magic is. We are building towards… We want the perfect performance, on both sides of the ball. Are we there yet? No, but will we get there? Hopefully, but it will take plenty of work.”