Ronan O'Gara: Lenten fast over, now for 'Jimmy Bielle-Biarrey Murphy'
La Rochelle's Irish coach Ronan O'Gara looks on prior to the French Top 14 rugby union match between Stade Rochelais (La Rochelle) and Aviron Bayonnais (Bayonne). File picture: Xavier Leoty/Getty
On Easter Saturday, my big Lenten fast came to an end. One that lasted longer than 40 days and 40 nights. Finally a win. After it felt like I’d been eating fish for three months.
So why am I grumpy? Maybe because we just had a shocking training session. Like these lads think they have it all solved now. Nothing gets you on edge quicker than the smell of guys relaxing after the run we’ve been on.
That’s the life of the coach. When everyone is feasting at the altar, you have to dissect the carcass. You have to sift through all the narratives every game throws up, tackle a few of them, and settle on the one that most resembles the truth. What was the real story of last Saturday?
Is it that we got out of jail? Bayonne should have had a penalty against us in the last minute. This new rule. A terrible kick that doesn’t go 10 metres. We’re in our half, he kicks it 30 metres across the pitch but it goes about five metres forward. Into a gale. Normally you don’t clear the space, it should be penalty against. They kick that, we’re beaten again in the last minute. But we got away with it.
Or is the real story how we let them into the game in the first place? Gift-wrapped three tries for them, like Easter eggs at the bottom of their bed. Honestly, they scored 28 points and we donated the majority of them. Poor decisions. Head loss. A young guy making a huge mistake, which you make allowances for. An experienced guy making a worse one, which you have to address.
You would need to watch the video to understand the depth of my concern. You have no chance if this is what you are doing.
So was that the story? No. It can’t be when you win. As a coach in our position, you can’t let it be the story.
The construction of the performance was impressive. 7-3, 10-3, 13-3. That’s when the next score, even three points, is critical. That’s when you have to be sensible, rock solid. Just get the next score. Then it’s a long afternoon for Bayonne. But we handed them shortcuts. It had to be intertwined with our losing run. Sport is so complicated mentally.
I still don’t think that’s the story.
The piece we have to take with us from last week is the last 25. It was so admirable. Reminded us all in the coaching box why we love these guys, even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes after a shit training session.
At 55 minutes we are inexplicably 25-19 down, into that gale. There are multiple signs that heads are gone. Wet day, skills elusive. When you have lost eight and drawn one in nine, you now have the perfect conditions to roll over. It’s so easy now to jump ship.
But the lads found a way to get over the finish line. Which is good on most days but is particularly impressive when you consider where we were at mentally.
So no matter how negative the introduction to this column sounds, the competitor in me still sees a little bit of that unbreakable spirit beginning to show which has been in our DNA the last four or five years. When we needed them most, we had a big Skelton, we had a big Atonio, we’re a different team when we get those two firing.
That, for me anyway, was the story. And now we need to write a few more chapters.
The Top 14 monster keeps rolling. A different beast every week. Now we go to the speedsters Bordeaux, a team with an awful lot of momentum. They have, as I call him when doing the video stuff with the boys, 'Jimmy Bielle-Biarrey Murphy' on the wing. They haven’t a notion what I’m talking about. I wonder would the real JBM do the team talk some week.
Speed kills. And Bielle-Biarrey is their killer. But no matter how good a team is, there is always an entry. You saw that when they played Munster. Even with Munster’s lack of accuracy they still gave themselves a shout of winning that game, at a stretch.
Bordeaux have got the Champions Cup semi-final against Toulouse the following week. They are hoping for a smooth prep run. Our goal is to make it anything but. If there is any sense from them that they’ve a game this week, then a tough game next week, we just cannot roll over and facilitate that. We need the points, we have loads to play for, that has to get the juices flowing.
We can’t say our confidence is rock bottom. It can’t be after last week. There has to be a kick from winning.
What is crucial now too is that while we’re not the team in form, we are the team with a history. That’s important in sport. Once boys have had big moments and got over the finish line in cup finals, it stands to you. You don’t always appreciate it when you call on those moments and those experiences. Maybe guys made a few withdrawals from the bank in the wind against Bayonne.
They will probably need to again on Saturday night. Away from home, 30,000 people in party mode for a team that’s flying in a bit of a derby. That’s when guys who know how these stories are written need to take charge of the narrative.
