Malcolm reflects on a mixed weekend for the Irish provinces involved in European competition, with Leinster and Munster marching on and Ulster crashing out.
I was at the Aviva Stadium for the Leinster game at the weekend and I think it lived up to what people had predicted it was going to be like. It was pretty much a dogfight throughout and even though Leinster got the scores they needed, they were made to work pretty hard for them in the end.
I thought defensively, Leinster dealt with Leicester very well, the scrum was strong and the lineout proved to be one of the key elements in the game. Leo Cullen and Kevin McLaughlin really dominated that area for Leinster and even Isa Nacewa’s try came from Leinster disrupting a Leicester lineout. I think a team like Leicester need the lineout as a platform to play rugby and to dominate games and you have to hand it to the Leinster lads for dominating that area as it proved crucial to the result.
Leinster attack not firing on all cylinders
Attacking-wise, Leinster were not at their incisive best on the day. They found Leicester difficult to break down and dropped a few balls. Luke Fitzgerald practically dropped one over the line in the first half when nine times out of ten he would have caught it and touched it down. Jonathan Sexton made a lovely half break, but offloading inside to Heaslip, who was in acres of space, the ball crucially went forward and even Brian O’Driscoll seemed to be a little nervous as he knocked one on in the first half and again in the second half.
It wasn’t the champagne rugby we have seen from Leinster this season, but Leicester played their part too, providing a very physical and organised defense. They were aggressive and abrasive; they cut down space and forced O’Driscoll and D’Arcy back inside time and time again, and also cut down O’Brien and Heaslip on the gain-line.
Right from the off, the level of the physicality was evident by the string of bodies on the deck and it needed to be as Leicester will dominate you if it isn’t right.
Although Leinster won a lot of set pieces with a scrum that was on par with Leicester’s and dominated the lineout, winning a lot of Leicester lineouts, there was little by way of incisiveness from the midfield. Leicester dealt with the Leinster strike moves well.
On one occasion, Leinster were forced to employ a chip which was gathered by D’Arcy and after offloading, the resultant drive stopped short of the line and should have resulted in the first try of the game, but instead Leinster had to settle for a penalty. Although we didn’t see much of O’Driscoll or D’Arcy in attack, they were hugely courageous in defence, with both players suffering knocks from their physicality throughout the game.
Frightening physicality
Right from the off, the level of the physicality was evident by the string of bodies on the deck and it needed to be as Leicester will dominate you if it isn’t right. The Leicester runners were smashed time and time again and Leicester’s clean brakes were practically non-existent; they were nullified in attack and dismantled at lineout time. You have to take into account that Leinster completely nullified a team that have been dominating the Aviva Premiership in England and all credit to them for doing so.
In fairness to Leicester, their defence was pretty organised as well. After five or six phases the Leicester defence might have been scrambling, but they still managed to produce a good defensive line that Leinster found difficult to break down, which may not have been the case with lesser teams. Still, Leinster managed to get the all important scores; they got their penalties and kept the scoreboard ticking over. Another thing was their patience and discipline in defence which was very important, as they showed that they had faith in each other and trust in their defensive system.
They kept the penalty count low, they trusted in their system, giving the message that you are getting nothing easy and eventually they would turn them over or Leicester would make a mistake, and although Leicester were not helped by the fact that Toby Flood had a bit of an off day with the boot, Leinster were certainly full value for what was a hard fought win.
Ulster’s set-piece woes
I mentioned last week that I was looking forward to Ulster’s clash with Northampton as I thought it would be a cracker and it certainly proved to be the case even if, unfortunately, it didn’t go Ulster’s way in the end. Ulster looked particularly good in the first half, they seemed to be able to break down Northampton at will, they had a good platform off the lineout, they made Northampton look a little bit shaky and after a bad start, they were pretty dominant for most of the opening half.
The second half was a different story, however, with Northampton scoring 13 unanswered points. I know I keep going on about set-pieces, but Ulster’s really let them down, especially in the scrum where BJ Botha just seemed to become worn out and Soane Tonga’uiha got on top of him.
Their lineout gradually got worse as the game went on and because they weren’t winning any ball off set-pieces, they were living off scraps and it was always going to be difficult for them as a result, and inevitably Northampton pulled away with a try of real class with Ashton and Foden combining exquisitely up the left wing.
The look on BJ Botha’s face says it all after Ulster’s defeat to Northampton
Still, you felt that if Ulster got any territory there could be opportunities, and so it was eventually when Pienaar tapped a penalty quickly on Northampton’s line only for Adam D’Arcy to suffer the dreaded white line fever and spill the ball when a try was beckoning.
You only get so many opportunities at this stage of the competition, Ulster didn’t take theirs and eventually Northampton closed the door on the game with about ten minutes to go. Northampton are a good side, they’re strong in a lot of areas, but in fairness, Ulster did expose them in the first half, but they couldn’t keep it up and their set piece let them down in the end.
Courtney Lawes had a massive game for Northampton in the second row and was a big leader for them up front. He made a lot of big tackles and he seemed to be everywhere around the field. He made a few big plays for Northampton throughout the game and turned over a lot of ball for them and seemed to be their go to guy on the day.
Unfortunately, it didn’t go for Ulster today, but they’ve still had a magnificent season. They did extremely well to even get out of their Heineken Cup group, they’re in with a great shout of reaching the Magners League semi-finals and I’m sure they’ll learn a lot from their experiences in the Heineken Cup this season.
Onwards and upwards for Munster
Munster made it through to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup in what was something of a crazy game against Brive on Saturday afternoon. I thought that in the first ten minutes of the game, it looked as if Brive weren’t up to it. In fairness to them, they turned it around and showed what they can do, but you always felt that Munster were going to be able to score when they needed to and that proved to be the case in the end.
Munster threw it around all day and although that’s not the type of game associated with Munster, they’re well capable of doing it. I think they had obviously done their homework and found that Brive’s defence was a bit lazy and disorganised out wide. Munster’s back three got a lot of ball kicked to them and they ran it back at them nearly every time through a non-existent Brive defensive line. Once Munster get over the gain line, they’re well able to run the ball and it paid dividends for them at the weekend.
Semi-finals
After something of an epic all-French Heineken Cup quarter-final, Leinster will play Toulouse in the semi-final and Toulouse are a very clinical side, they have a lot of experience and although it’s in the Aviva Stadium, it will be a massive challenge for Leinster.
They will need to up their attack, because Toulouse will have a far stronger lineout than Leicester had and they won’t be able to rely on a static set-piece. They’ll have to be far more creative and also very disciplined and be careful not to turn over ball because Toulouse will jump on any opportunity that comes their way. I think that Toulouse will sit back and allow Leinster to play, but it promises to be a magnificent occasion and it will be interesting to see what happens.
As far as Munster are concerned, they’ll meet Harlequins in the Challenge Cup semi-final and Harlequins are a good side and the type of team that are easily underestimated. At home though, you would expect Munster to be able to lift the intensity, to dominate up front, to get their big ball carriers on the ball and to give a disciplined performance and I would imagine they’ll beat Harlequins at home and make it through to the final in Cardiff in May.
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