This week, Malcolm looks back at a great weekend for Leinster and Ulster, weighs up how far they can go in the Heineken Cup and analyses the make-up of Ireland’s squad for the Six Nations.
Leinster continued on their excellent run with another magnificent performance against Racing Metro on Friday night. They got into the game pretty quickly and I really admired the ambition that Leinster started with, resulting in three first half tries. They put themselves under pressure with that same ambition that had resulted in the tries, however, pushing passes and playing in their own half when they needed to tighten up and realise that they were in fact playing away from home. That has not been Leinster’s way this season, though, and although they chanced their arm on occasion by making unforced errors, allowing Racing opportunity to punish them, they endured it without affecting the scoreboard.
Hats off to Ulster, would you have said at the start of the season that they would be in the last eight? Probably not, but it’s a credit to them and who knows where they might go from here?
I thought Racing played more expansively and went through more phases than I’ve seen from them before. I don’t think they’re the fittest team around, indeed they looked unused to the tempo Leinster could play at. They are a physically huge side; they looked to take Leinster on at the set pieces. Leinster dealt well at scrum time, Mike Ross again showing why he is included in the Ireland squad, but at lineout time they were pretty strong and they got a lot of return from the maul. I think that the defensive maul is something Leinster will have to address going forward; they were put under a lot of pressure in that aspect of the game yet again and as the competition continues teams will see this as an area to attack.
Bamboozled
In the first half, I think Leinster were weak defensively; some missed tackles forced them on their heels and their defensive alignment let them down again, offering soft yards to Racing, but saying that, whatever you say about Leinster’s defence it was vastly more committed than the home side, who seemed incapable of living with the visitors. Leinster attacked with venom, broke the gain line, won quick ball and followed it up with more highly-skilled play, bamboozling their opponents in the process. Some of their rugby was exquisite and you have to commend the fact that they scored five tries. It is a rarity to go to France, and let it be said the second ranked side in the Top 14, and come away with a bonus point. They may have been shy some of their frontliners, but few sides could have lived with Leinster on Friday night.
Leinster are playing with such confidence at the moment and you could see that in both games against Racing. They would have said to themselves that if we can take these guys on and match them physically, then we have the ability to break them down and so it proved. Leinster played some sublime stuff and although winning the game was the first priority, I’m sure in the back of their minds they had their eyes on getting the bonus point and they did that in the end.
From an individual perspective, once again the man of the match Sean O’Brien stood out. Not only did he do his own duties, but at one stage he threw the ball into the lineout and I was surprised he didn’t throw it to himself and carry on he was that good! Seanie typifies what Leinster are about at the moment; he’s ultra-confident and everything he’s trying to do on the pitch comes off. I was also impressed with the 18-year old Fijian centre playing for Racing, Virimi Vakatawa.
Jonathan Sexton lorded it over his opposite number Juan Martin Hernandez on Friday night
He scored a great try when he brushed past three Leinster players and he looked pretty exceptional. Any time he had ball in hand he looked dangerous and he gave Drico and Darce something to worry about. Apart from Sean O’Brien, I thought that Jonathan Sexton was impeccable, especially in the second half where he gave a great display of control. He outshone his more renowned opponent, the mercurial Argentinean, Hernandez, who looks a little lost.
Hats off to Ulster
Ulster were also impressive against Aironi and I’ve been a big admirer of theirs all year, particularly up front. I have a lot of time for Dan Tuohy and I think that himself and Johann Muller have brought a really physical edge to Ulster’s front five. Declan Fitzpatrick was also very solid in the scrum and they coped very well in the absence of BJ Botha. They looked nervous for a while, no doubt about it. They were playing away and although Aironi aren’t the greatest side in the world, they’re certainly committed and caused Ulster problems at times. There was a stage about 20 minutes into the game when Ulster had only a penalty to show for their efforts, but they carved out a score to get themselves into it.
There was a key moment about seven minutes into the second half when Ulster created pressure by getting territory and winning their lineouts and then they just mauled Pedrie Wannenburg over for their third try. Mauling these days is not so much a lost art, but something that’s becoming harder and harder to perfect, but to be fair to Ulster they scored two great tries off the back of mauls and then when the result was no longer in doubt they went looking for the bonus point and got it fairly quickly. Hats off to Ulster, would you have said at the start of the season that they would be in the last eight? Probably not, but it’s a credit to them and who knows where they might go from here?
Malcolm on Munster, the Heineken Cup quarter-final draw and the Ireland Six Nations squad
Great incentive for Munster
Munster salvaged a bit of pride against London Irish, who I thought played pretty well and certainly didn’t lie down. It was looking fairly ominous for Munster at one stage when they trailed 14-7 with a little over ten minutes remaining, but they took on the challenge and scored three tries after that, something which I’m sure will give them confidence going forward.
As a result, they’re into the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup against Brive in France and that’s certainly not going to be easy. Brive tend to be a different side year on year, I know we went there a few years ago and they weren’t up to much, but certainly there’s great incentive for Munster to go and win as if they can they’ll have a home semi-final against the winners of Harlequins and Wasps and avoid the likes of Clermont Auvergne, Stade Francais and Montpellier in the process. There’s a pretty decent path to the final there and Munster are well capable of winning it. OK, it’s not quite the Heineken Cup, but it’s an incredible quarter-final line-up nonetheless; there are some really good sides left in the competition.
To be honest, I think it’s a bit of a nightmare draw for Leinster.
As for the Heineken Cup, Leinster have drawn Leicester in the quarter-final and I suppose that brings up happy and sad memories for me, as although we beat them in the final in 2009, they beat us in the quarter-finals in 2002 and again in 2005. To be honest, I think it’s a bit of a nightmare draw for Leinster. Something that’s often said of French sides is that they don’t travel well, but that doesn’t apply to Leicester, who pose a real challenge home and away. I’m sure they’ll be smarting from the Heineken Cup final defeat in 2009, but I think it will be an incredible game. I imagine it will be in the Aviva Stadium and all going well it will be a full house so it should be a great occasion if you’re lucky enough to get a ticket.
Big challenge
The big challenge for Leinster is to see if they can perform after being without half of their front line team, maybe even more, for the next couple of months while Ireland are in the Six Nations. They’ll probably only have one or maybe two games to prepare for the quarter-finals and it’s not ideal by any means. That has caused us issues before when we haven’t been able to rediscover our form of the pool stages for the quarter-finals, but that’s the nature of the beast I suppose. It was also a big bonus to get a home semi-final if they can overcome Leicester; a big cheer went around Dublin when we came out first in the semi-final draw, even if it is against Toulouse or Biarritz. Leinster will only be worrying about Leicester for now, but it’s nice to know that if you do get through, you’ll have a semi-final in the Aviva Stadium to look forward to.
Ulster have drawn Northampton away and if I was to put money on the game, I’d have to go with Northampton. I’m sorry if that sounds terribly negative on Ulster’s part, but I think that Northampton are a really together side at the moment. In fairness though, Ulster have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. They’ll have taken massive confidence from their performances of late and Northampton are by no means unbeatable. You don’t know what’s going to happen, but Northampton are a very good side and playing at home, you’d have to fancy them.
As far as the other sides remaining are concerned, I think Toulouse shot themselves in the foot somewhat, because they have to go to Biarritz and if they win that they have to play away again. Mind you, I think Biarritz will be cursing their luck as they would have preferred anyone but Toulouse as their home advantage will be easily dealt with by the proximity of their opponents. Toulouse, I feel, will come through that fixture as they are too complete a side to fall to Biarritz which would then see them go to either Leinster or Leicester. The same applies to Toulon and Perpignan; the winner will travel to the winner of Ulster or Northampton on the other side of the draw. If Leicester beat Leinster, I would see them as worthy contenders because they’d have home advantage in the semi-finals. I’d like to see something like a Leinster v Northampton final because I think they’re probably the two best sides in the competition at the moment.
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I’ll be writing in more detail about the Six Nations next week, but there was a lot of tough decisions to be made in the Ireland squad which was announced last week. I wouldn’t say I was too surprised by the decision to include Mike Ross at the expense of Tony Buckley; I think it was deserved on Mike Ross’ part. Leinster’s scrum has been very solid and that is thanks in no small part to the displays of Mike Ross at tighthead.
Mike Ross deserves a shot at tighthead for Ireland
Equally so, Munster’s scrum has been under a lot of pressure, so I think that Mike deserves his chance. Greg Feek, the Leinster scrum coach, has been introduced to the Ireland set-up and he will help develop the scrum as well. Whether or not Mike Ross starts or not is a different matter; he offers a lot at scrum time, but it depends on what Deccie thinks is most important because, for example, John Hayes is massive when it comes lifting at lineout time. But it’s great to see Mike involved and hopefully he’ll get a chance to prove what he can do at some stage.
Battle for the number nine jersey heats up
I was surprised to see Tomas O’Leary omitted from the squad, but I suppose it’s a testament to Peter Stringer, who seems to be rejuvenated and seems to be preferred by Tony McGahan at the moment for what I would imagine is his superior distribution. An interesting battle for the number nine jersey awaits, Eoin Reddan is playing a great style of rugby at the moment; he is lively at the base of the ruck and is very much in tune with Johnny Sexton.
It’s certainly not the end of Tomas, though. He’s an incredible talent and there will be plenty of opportunities for him to get back involved again. As far as the squad as a whole is concerned, Declan Kidney is certainly keeping everyone on his toes. Deccie’s a funny character; he’s the kind of guy that you can’t nail on anything. While that can be exasperating for somebody looking in from the outside in terms of you’re not sure what team he’s going to pick, as far as he is concerned, nobody is certain of their place. He picks players on their performances and I think that’s a good thing going forward.
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