Ulster-13 Leinster-21

THE DARCE IS BACK

For once I’ll forgive Leinster for a victory which came despite an underwhelming performance.

Basically we won this encounter because we have a deeper bench, and frankly, that’s good enough for me.

Plus there were a few encouraging factors on the night, none more so than the return of Gordon D’Arcy who put in the kind of performance we needed to see from his particularly on the defensive side of the ball.  It was also good to finally see a man-of-the-match performance from Rocky Elsom; long may it continue.

It was your typical display from Les Blues this season – we started well, camping out on their 22, but never seemed able to finish off our moves by crossing the line; a penalty or a knock-on would normally ensue instead.

And so it was no surprise that they crossed the line first. Maybe I’m a bit harsh here, but I feel this was Darce’s one boo-boo on the night since he perhaps should have indicated to Dempsey that he had the winger covered so our full-back could have committed to tackling the onrushing Darren Cave rather than be caught in two minds.

But I suppose you can’t grumble too much about an away victory, particularly considering how things have gone for us of late, and with Munster also succumbing to Connacht, the Meaningless League seems a lot more wide open now.

Glennon speaks

Here is an open letter by politician and former Leinster & Ireland second row Jim Glennon to Michael Cheika which appears in the Independent. 

I agree with his assertions when it comes to the levels of expectation the Leinster fans will have for their team, but I think it's a bit unfair for him to lay blame solely at Cheika's door, since to an extent his hands are tied due to his being expected to mould players in certain positions for the Irish team rather than necessarily put out his best available XV every week.

Time is running out for Leinster to reach respectability

Dear Michael,

I know Christmas in Australia is strikingly different from our Irish Christmas, nevertheless the basic courtesies remain so I wish you and your new wife all the compliments of the season and every success in 2009.

Success in 2009 may, however, be a somewhat unrealistic aspiration, certainly as far as your professional life is concerned, if the evidence of your tenure to date as Leinster coach is to be the yardstick.

The term 'success' is relative. I suspect your Australian colleagues Mattie Williams in Ulster and Tony McGahon in Munster have their own interpretations, both of which would differ from yours. But then Mattie and Tony can point to their brief tenures and justifiably claim at least a modicum of success.

Nor should I forget Mick Bradley in Connacht. Over a sustained period in charge in the West, he has, by any objective standard, done a fine job in difficult circumstances.

Unfortunately for you, Michael, 'success' with Leinster seems to be tantalisingly beyond your reach. Not that the supporters are a particularly demanding lot either. Most would accept, for starters, a consistent level of performance given the talent available to you and the sizeable investment of supporters' funds.

The Magners League title, welcome as it was, barely registers on the scale. And in any event, Dublin deserves, occasionally at least, a standing in European rugby proportionate to its size, its resources and its rich tradition.

Since the advent of European competition in 1995, when Leinster reached the semi-final, two characteristics have become hallmarks of most Leinster seasons -- pre-season hype and subsequent disappointment. The former is outside your control but the latter is not only within your control but, I suggest, within the terms of your employment. Whatever about the hype, there is only so much disappointment supporters can absorb.

Having become inured to the almost annual disappointment on the field, what is most worrying, particularly in the wake of such an apparently hopeless performance in Castres, is that despite the emergence of Rob Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald, Jon Sexton, Seán O'Brien, Devin Toner and Cian Healy, you haven't been able to put your stamp on the unit as a whole.

We appreciate that the short-term nature of your contracts haven't lent themselves to long-term, or indeed even medium-term strategy and, in fairness to you, the modern-day coach is judged simply on results. Surely, however, after a decent period in charge of one of the bigger clubs in Europe you would prefer that the legacy of your time here would be more positive than disappointment, inconsistency and a Magners League title?

Speaking of those youngsters, Michael, it strikes me how many of them are visibly lacking in confidence. I know Leo Cullen's absence through injury is particularly unfortunate and that his leadership is sorely missed, but I have noted that you've yet to produce a successor as manager to Paul McNaughton.

Surely in your situation, with only Kurt McQuilkin to bring some local knowledge to the party, a strong manager with experience and nous would be an asset. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time since the game went professional that Leinster has been without a manager. I can confidently state that both Ken Ging and Paul, in their respective periods, played highly positive roles in the overall group dynamic.

If you repeat Eddie O'Sullivan's mistake after Brian O'Brien stepped down from the national team, it will bring long-term pain for those you leave behind after your departure, to whom you have a responsibility also.

Before I finish, Michael, don't think that this is just another former Leinster second-row looking for headlines with a scattergun rant. Far from it. You know all too well that this Leinster group -- players and management -- is entirely of your own construction and that is why the buck stops with you.

I wrote some years ago of the terrible waste that would be represented by a failure on your part to win a Heineken Cup with players such as O'Driscoll, Hickie, D'Arcy and Horgan. Regrettably, that is now water under the bridge. As one who was part of the Leinster dressing room for 24 years as player, selector, coach and manager, I now ask you whether, in your heart of hearts, you believe that mere respectability is too much to expect from one of the more individually-gifted and expensively-constructed groups in the tournament?

If your answer is yes, and you believe respectability to be an unrealistic target, then you are in fundamental disagreement with everybody in Leinster rugby and the options available to you are limited in the extreme. On the other hand, if you believe it possible, then you have two games over a nine-day period in January, and three others on the run-in to them, to get your act together and deliver. And don't forget that it is very much 'your' act, no one else's.

Plenty to chew on with the turkey, Michael -- do have a good Christmas.

Regards,

Jim Glennon.

Former Leinster player, selector and manager

Winning Pool Two

I have to admit to being a bit of a number nerd, so I took a bit of time yesterday to work out just how Leinster are currently poised in Heineken Cup Pool Two.

Well, judging by the current standings and the rules & regulations regarding tie-breakers, here is what I’ve come up with…

We are guaranteed at least second place, in that Edinburgh cannot match us and even if Castres do, we have the tie-break edge over them. Now as we all know, second place isn’t necessarily good enough for qualification in the H Cup but nonetheless this is positive.

Here’s another good part – any kind of win against Wasps, with or without bonus points for either side, will win us the Pool and put us through. That part of this calculation is simple. Win at Twickers, win the pool.

Now we get into the realm of what happens if we don’t win, which is the main reason why I’m doing all of this. Basically, there are ways we can fail to win yet still have matters in our own hands come our final match at home to Edinburgh.

One is the unlikely event of a draw. We would remain three points ahead of Wasps, so that means we only need to draw against the Scots to win the Pool.

OK here’s the tricky part. There are different ways of losing, and each have different consequences.

LOSE WITH BONUS POINT YET WASPS FAIL TO GET THEIR BONUS.

If they get four points and we get one, they draw level with us in the group, but the crucial difference is that we will have the tie-breaker, having taken a 5-0 points haul at the RDS. This means a bonus point win vs Edinburgh will win us the pool, and at LEAST destiny will be in our own hands.

ANY OTHER KIND OF VICTORY FOR WASPS

In other words, a straight win with no bonus for either side OR any kind of four-try home victory will give them a one-point edge over us which means even if we hammer the Scots we still have to keep an eye on the scoreboard to see if we progress. 

SO TO SUMMARIZE…

Our position in Pool Two has to be seen as a glass half full for now. If we want to look at things negatively, we might say Wasps will be strong at home AND Edinburgh are a bogey side.

But hopefully, Michael Cheika will be able to convince his charges that they are more than capable of staying at least within seven points of Danny Cipriani & co and thus go a long way towards bringing this pool, and the quarterfinal tie that comes with it, home.

Munster show the way

Yes, I know this is a Leinster-friendly blog and the scarlet-clad boys from the south are meant to be the enemy and all, but I feel this has to be said.

If I were Michael Cheika, I’d get a video of the last ten minutes of the Munster v Clermont game on Saturday afternoon and show it to my squad.

Sure, the home side had a man advantage for most of the contest, but I’m not so much talking about the game as a whole, more so the last ten minutes.

In my report for Leinster’s defeat in Castres, I suggested they suffered from a lack of leadership.

Having gotten themselves into a hole against their own French opponents, Munster were able to dig deep and find it to score not one but two fine scores to seal it.

THAT is why they have two Heineken Cups in their trophy room, and the only way we’ll ever come close to getting one is by finding our own way of playing in the 80th minute as hard as we did in the 1st.

Castres-18 Leinster-15

JECKYLL & HYDE RUGBY

I think reality is finally starting to hit me – this Leinster team cannot win the Heineken Cup.

I was in denial up to now, thinking that the draw with Cardiff and defeats to Munster, Connacht and Glasgow were all blips which didn’t really matter because, as my name for it suggests, the League itself was meaningless.

Last night, however, my eyes were opened, and finally I think I can see where the problem lies.

From this kickoff, it looked like Michael Cheika had done everything right. Leinster were fired up, the backs were hitting good lines, it looked to all intents and purposes like a five-point haul was on the cards, especially when Girvan Dempsey slapped down the opening try.

And let me be the first to congratulate Jonny Sexton for his magnificent conversion from out wide. It was a kick Ronan O’Gara would be proud of.

Then for a short while after that score, we seemed to go a little flat. I was concerned.

But then I was convinced my worries were over when a series of drives, supporting and offloads led to Sexton crossing for a magnificent second score. Two tries in the first half, a poor opposition, everything was looking good.

And then it started again.

Sexton missed a conversion which was much easier than the first one.

From that moment to the final whistle, we couldn’t get phases going, we couldn’t throw into line-outs, we couldn’t scrum properly, we couldn’t catch high balls, we couldn’t kick tactically OR for points.

I’m not even sure how well our defence really played since our opponents were so average that I couldn’t be sure if they would have managed to cross our line in any circumstance.

So basically, we went into the match in the right frame of mind, yet we couldn’t sustain that level for eighty minutes. What can we put that down to?

You think I’m going to blame Sexton again, don’t you?

Well I’m not – I put our failure down to three words – LACK OF LEADERSHIP.

I suppose the obvious place to point the finger would be scrum half Chris Whittaker, since he was captain on the night, and you could hardly say he led from the front.

But it was all throughout the team, and each and every one of these players has shown this season they can do it. All the things I have listed above have been seen by Les Bleus this season, so we know they have the ability, just not the consistency it seems.

The moment that capped it all was Brian O’Driscoll’s inexplicable decision to kick the penalty himself in the dying minutes when there was plenty of time for the more polished Contepomi to find the line and give us one last chance to pinch it.

Right now, despite the fact that we creamed London Wasps back in October, I firmly believe that there is no way this Leinster squad can lift the Heineken Cup.

I guess it’s up to them to go to Twickenham in mid-January and prove me wrong.

One last point - I am sick to death of having to endure Sky's don't-give-a-damn-about-Ireland live rugby coverage of these matches.  Love him or hate him, we need Hooky!!!

Leinster-33 Castres-3

EIGHTEEN PLUS HANDLING ERRORS

I’m really sorry for being a doom and gloom merchant, but I have to use that statistic as my headline to put this scoreline in perspective.

Leinster had one goal and one goal only in this match as far as I was concerned, and that was to secure the bonus point. Therefore, they failed, and the aforementioned stat points the way to explaining the failure.

And what’s more, they didn’t even seem to give the 16,500 fans some sign that they had the four-try bonus as a priority.

With the score at 16-3 and over half an hour left to get three tries, we bizarrely chose to kick a penalty and missed, and then seven minutes later, we chose the same option and succeeded.

Purists may argue that convention wisdom dictates that it was important to establish a lead of more than two converted tries to secure the victory. 

Well to those who say that I have a bit of extra conventional wisdom for you…CASTRES WERE CRAP!!! Never in a million years would they have crossed our line unless we somehow got fifteen yellow cards at once!!!

Now this may surprise you, but I actually think Sexton’s performance was his best of the season so far. I’d give him a C+. But that’s STILL not good enough for a side that claims to have designs on winning the Heineken Cup.

It has to be said – in the 60 minutes Sexton was at fly half, we scored but one try. In 20 with Holwell, we got two. Who could argue that if that ratio went the other way we’d be celebrating maximum Pool 2 points right now with sights firmly set on a Number 1 seeding for the knockout stages.

The word is the French are actually going to field a full strength team for the return match on Friday, and also they have a pitch that is practically a mud bath, so I may look more favourably on a narrow victory on the night.

But let’s be clear – Munster have set the bar pretty high for this tournament as far as Irish teams are concerned, and if we hope to be heading for Edinburgh at the end of May for the final, we need to play a hell of a lot better than this for 80 minutes.

At least we had strong showing from young guns like Devin Toner and Sean O’Brien to give us hope.

Rugby World Cup Draw

TO THE PERSON WHOSE INTERNET SERVER IS IN TACOMA, WASHINGTON AND WHO KEEPS COMING BACK TO THIS PARTICULAR POST, CAN I ASK WHAT IT IS ABOUT THIS POST THAT MAKES YOU RETURN? JUST CURIOUS - ed.

Here’s a question for you – how can you tell that a sporting competition is actually relevant to the sporting world as a whole?

The answer, as far as I’m concerned, is pretty simple.

When millions of people OTHER than those either winning or covering the competition give a damn about it.

A few weeks ago, a sporting competition took place in the southern hemisphere. It had the rather grandiose title of “Rugby League World Cup”.

Many people mock the sport of baseball because they call the game’s premier event the “World Series”. Well if that’s the case, then what went on in Australia should go under similar scrutiny.

In non-World Cup years, when Australia or New Zealand rugby league squads come to play in England, they face a Great Britain team. Why? Because an England-specific team would be creamed. Don’t get me wrong, the GB team gets creamed too, but by less with a few Welshmen thrown into the mix.

But the organisers of the RLWC are so hard up to get enough teams to make the event seem worthwhile that they actually have to re-separate Her Majesty’s jurisdiction to do so.

And let me finish my “rugby league is irrelevant” rant with this point – maybe the tournament did culminate in a major upset with the heavily favoured Aussies going down to their New Zealand counterparts.

But I absolutely guarantee you that every New Zealander that didn’t collect a winner’s medal to a man or woman would trade that victory for one by the All Blacks in Eden Park on October 22, 2011.

You may wonder why I took so long in a post titled “rugby world cup draw” to mention the tournament I wanted to write about.

Two reasons.

1. I really wanted to get that rugby league stuff off my chest, and
   
2. IT’S NOT FOR ANOTHER THREE BLOODY YEARS!!!
   

Who knows, maybe by 2011 Australia will be a spent force and Jonah Lomu will turn out to have a separated twin brother with an Italian passport?

What good could it possibly do to speculate what will happen that far down the road? Particularly with three Six Nations, three Heineken Cups and a Lions Tour among other things to be played for between now and then?

Looking at the draw, there’s really only one contest that stands out as far as I’m concerned. New Zealand v France. Big grudge match there, and they should definitely open the tournament with that no matter what happens.

Otherwise, let’s all take a chill pill and focus on next weekend’s matches, shall we? 

There’s plenty of time to worry about the destination of the Webb Ellis trophy.

There’s also plenty of time to admit Rugby League is a waste of time and energy and should be merged with its senior sibling which can only improve the game as a whole.