Malcolm O’Kelly dissects the performances of the Irish sides on a good weekend for the provinces in the Heineken Cup – Paul O’Connell’s red card apart.
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Both individually and collectively, Leinster’s performance against Clermont-Auvergne on Sunday was pretty impressive. I said last week that this was a step-up but a big chance for the two debutants in the backline, Eoin O’Malley and Ferg McFadden, both of them really stepped up to the mark. They were absolutely fantastic – between them they showed competent passing skills, great evasion and fast feet, good pace and awareness in defence against bigger, more physical opponents. I was delighted and proud to see them coping so well with the intensity of the Heineken Cup, and they’ve proven their worth to Leinster and Ireland.
A big positive for Leinster was their ability to mix it up with Clermont at the setpiece where they are formidable. Last year in the quarter final Leinster got dished up in the scrum and at the breakdown. On Sunday, however, they fared much better, scrummaging well and winning vital lineouts. Sexton’s kicking was exquisite as was his game control and his ability to release his outside backs. Without three starters in Brian O’Driscoll, Rob Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald, the other senior members of the backline stood up to be counted. Shane Horgan took his try brilliantly. Gordon D’Arcy played his part too, making up hard yards in narrow heavily guarded areas. Isa Nacewa was outstanding again, high ball fielding ability and transforming it into an attack weapon. He can play anywhere across the back line but he’s very at home at full back. He has the “X-Factor†– he’s a very dangerous runner from full back, and he’s been a fantastic recruit and a very valuable player for Leinster over the last couple of years.
After the start they had, going seven points up so early on, Leinster might be disappointed they had only managed another six points for the remainder of the game. They created some marvellous opportunities. Sublime passing and interplay nearly netted them more scores. They looked dangerous whenever they had possession, in particular one occasion when they were camped on the Clermont line but Shane Jennings was pinged for a double movement and the chance went a begging. Looking at the replay on television, you could see why Shane got up and tried again – there didn’t seem to be anyone on him.
Shane Horgan touches down in the corner for Leinster’s early try against Clermont-Auvergne on Sunday
Overall, the lads should be content with their performance. As for the result, they got the losing bonus point and denied Clermont a try bonus. They played unbelievable rugby at times, put in a great effort on the day and they should take confidence that a similar performance on Saturday night could reap a victory.
However one concern would be that of Jamie Heaslip, who took a knock and was forced to come off at half time. There isn’t a team in world rugby that wouldn’t miss him. I don’t think I can remember him being injured in his career before, and I’m sure he’ll be pushing to be fit. If he doesn’t make it, I would expect Sean O’Brien to revert to Number 8 again, with Dominic Ryan coming in at 6.
Seanie on the pitch is hard working, a very strong ball carrier, and a solid lineout and kickoff exponent, he has also played a lot at openside so he can also pilfer a lot of ball and make a nuisance of himself. He leads by example and is arguably the in-form Irish back row – his next challenge is to nail down a place on the Ireland team.
Dominic Ryan has come into the senior squad this year and is very highly regarded and certainly one for the future. He’s very mobile, athletic and enthusiastic, he will offer himself to take a lot of ball on and throw himself about in defence. Regarding who might cover the bench in Jamie’s possible absence, Kevin McLaughlin is very close to a return and is pretty much fully fit and in need of games. Whether Clermont in the Aviva is the what the coaches would have in mind is another thing. Stephen Keogh and Rhys Ruddock are other options. Stephen has been a stalwart for Leinster for years and Rhys is a really promising up-and-comer, and has already played for Ireland, so Leinster have quality in depth in that position.
You couldn’t take anything for granted next Saturday night. Clermont won the French Top 14 last season and they’ve put together a squad that is capable of challenging both domestically and in the Heineken Cup, and they look to have prioritised this competition this season. They will see a massive opportunity to turn Leinster over and to gain revenge for last year’s quarter-final. But there will be a pretty special 16th man at the Aviva. There are 40,000 tickets sold already, so it looks like it will be close to a full house. I never got to play in the Aviva but it’s already clear that it’s a special place – the atmosphere at the Leinster-Munster Magners League game earlier in the season was spectacular. The RDS is a happy hunting ground for Leinster but if Leinster can fill the Aviva, it will be an atmosphere like no other, which will spur the team on to find the performance it will have to deliver to overcome Clermont, who I believe are arguably the best team in the competition.
O’Connell sees red
The big story from the Munster-Ospreys game was undoubtedly Paul O’Connell’s red card. The moment it happened, I feared the worst for him. I don’t believe there was anything malicious in it at all. He’s been out a long time and the Ospreys Number 8 was pulling and dragging out of him. Paulie swung back and he was just unlucky that he caught him flush in the chin and Jonathan Thomas went down like a sack of spuds. If he’d connected marginally lower with his arm there wouldn’t have been anything in it.
Paulie, without meaning to pre-empt, is probably facing a ban of a couple of games, which will be very frustrating for him. He will be pretty pissed with himself and must wonder when he is going to catch a break.
That red card put the game right back in the melting-pot. Down to 14 men and with only six points in it, the game suddenly felt like it could go either way. However the experience on the pitch was in evidence with the likes of Quinny turning vital ball over and O’Gara controlling proceedings. The key score in the game was undoubtedly Munster’s third try, which made for a 14-point turnaround in the time that Ospreys were down a man in the second half.
Overall Dan Biggar had a good game with the boot but his coach Scott Johnson will be tearing his hair out with the decision to kick an up-and-under at the edge of his own 22. It fell Munster’s way and Johne Murphy was given a simple task of running in a try. Until that point Ospreys were right in it, but with that score Munster were pretty much in control.
Opportunity knocks for Ulster
The result of the weekend in the Heineken Cup was definitely Aironi’s win over Biarritz on Saturday. It showed two things: the benefit the Italian sides are getting from taking part in the Magners League this season, and Biarritz’s complacency in going there. I’ve played in Treviso loads of times and you always go to Italy expecting a battle. Take your eye off the ball and you could seriously regret it.
Aironi’s win puts Ulster right back into contention in Pool 4 after their win over Bath. The more I see of Stephen Ferris, the more impressed I am of his ball carrying ability.
Ulster met a fiery Bath side that was opportunistic but vulnerable. Ulster worked hard for the victory but should know that they will need to tighten up and play more composed error free rugby next week in the Recreation Ground if they are to get the win they need. They have a serious opportunity to turn the pool on its head and put themselves in a position where they have Biarritz in their backyard with a winner take all. Then they could finally get that ‘pool stage’ monkey off their backs.
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