IF CONNACHT ARE going to top off their best-ever season with a trophy, they’ll have to overcome their provincial rivals who have been the standard setters in Ireland for much of the last decade.
Pat Lam says playing Leinster is the “ultimate final” for the western province.
Lam is happy Connacht are going up against the 'benchmark' Pro12 team. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
He was joking last weekend when stating that, having been handed Scotland’s home changing room at Murrayfield on Saturday, Connacht will be “playing Ireland on the other side” but there’s a strong hint of truth in there.
Certainly the expectation is that when Joe Schmidt announces his Ireland squad to travel to South Africa this afternoon, there will once again be a considerably larger number of Leinster players in it than the representations of the other provinces.
Add to their array of Test stars Leinster’s history of four Pro12 titles and three Heineken Cups and it’s clear why Lam says this is the greatest test Connacht could have faced for Saturday’s final.
Without a doubt, it is the ultimate final for us,” says Lam. “In the sense that if you pick one team that we’d say would be the toughest challenge, it’s Leinster. Because we know them so well, and where a lot of those players are, a lot of our players aspire to be.
“They set the benchmark. If you want to test yourself against the best, and we talk to the boys constantly about their rugby education and playing at that highest level and Test matches, here’s a chance to test ourselves against one of the best in Europe over the last ten years.”
There may well be a number of Connacht players in Saturday’s final motivated by having been left out of Schmidt’s South African party.
Lam believes that the best way for his Irish players to keep challenging Schmidt’s selection decision-making is by ensuring that they continue to perform and win.
Connacht trained in the Galway sun yesterday. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“I think getting anybody in that [Ireland] team is fantastic,” says Lam. “When you play well for your team you promote yourself and we’ve seen that in the Six Nations when we had seven in a training squad.
“That’s all the boys can do and control – and this is what we talk about all the time. If you think ‘I want to be in Ireland and pick me,’ you ain’t going to make it.
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“The number is not important to me, it’s around the fact that there are guys on that selection table. That’s up to Joe and his selectors to make their call.”
Ahead of Saturday’s final in Edinburgh, Connacht will have been poring over the footage of Leinster’s impressive semi-final win over Ulster at the RDS, when Leo Cullen’s men hit something of a peak in terms of their aggression and accuracy.
There was nothing extravagant about their game plan but the likes of Johnny Sexton, Jamie Heaslip and Jack McGrath kicked brilliantly, slammed rucks, or carried powerfully and collectively Leinster made visits to the opposition 22 pay off.
“That is the challenge,” says Lam of that Leinster performance, “that is the thing that is exciting. We were really impressed with what Leinster did. The whole country was and everyone is talking about it.
“That is what makes it exciting because it’s like right, that is the level, fellas, that is where we need to be at.
“If we don’t have that understanding of how we need to play and if we don’t bring the preparation for it, we will get beaten off the park.”
Shane O'Leary and Craig Ronaldson at training. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Going by recent evidence, Connacht fans shouldn’t be too concerned about their side’s preparation. The westerners’ repeated focus on their ‘systems and processes’ mean they have managed potentially pressurised situations well so far this season.
Lam’s experience of top-level rugby and finals in the Heineken Cup and then the ITM Cup as a coach will be helpful, although the former back row will also be leaning heavily on the excellent backroom staff around him.
The head coach has understandably and deservedly garnered much of the praise for Connacht’s journey, but he knows how important the coaches around him have been.
“The coaching group has been outstanding,” says Lam.
From [skills coach] Dave Ellis, who I brought over here because straight away I knew the profile of the team and what I wanted to do. Dave and I have a strong relationship, we met up at the IRANZ [International Rugby Academy of New Zealand].
“Dave was keen to move into professional coaching at that stage. He’d been a while with Murray Mexted [director of the IRANZ] and I saw the work he did with young players in skill development and we were very much aligned.
“I said, ‘I’m going up to the west and there’s a bit of work to be done around skill levels,’ so he came and has really driven the programme.
“I want to highlight that all the coaches are skills coaches, they all do their bit, but we get Dave to oversee the individual ones.
Dave Ellis and Andre Bell at the Sportsground yesterday. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“So if I’m working on the defence [system] I can’t go and work on a guy’s tackling [technique], so to have the one-on-one or the small group stuff is crucial and Dave has a real passion about it to look after that area, make sure all guys are ticking it off.
“And then Andre Bell [backs and kicking coach]. I brought in Andre for his ability with the backs and more importantly confidence. He brought a confidence to the backline around having a go and backing themselves, so there’s a lot of alignment there.
“Then the local boys. [Forwards coach] Jimmy Duffy’s been superb since he came up. He had big shoes to fill with Dan McFarland going to Glasgow. Jimmy’s been very successful in the academy, the way he deals with people.
“Me and him are very much aligned around sports psychology, around the way he thinks about the game. I like the way he does things, Jimmy, he knows the right buttons to push. He’s built on Dan’s work and taken on that forward pack with a lot of young guys coming through.
“Then to have [assistant attack coach] Conor McPhillips, who was originally our head performance analyst but I knew this guy could coach with his rugby brain, and he’s helped me tremendously this year with the team’s attack.
“I look after the defence and attack but him being able to do the donkey work for me as well his analysis ability, with his thoughts and my thoughts - me and him catch up normally after the game on a Sunday and think about where we want to attack a team.
“It’s a great team that I’ve got and they’ve done a great job this year.”
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'It's the ultimate final for us' - Connacht take on the Leinster benchmark
IF CONNACHT ARE going to top off their best-ever season with a trophy, they’ll have to overcome their provincial rivals who have been the standard setters in Ireland for much of the last decade.
Pat Lam says playing Leinster is the “ultimate final” for the western province.
He was joking last weekend when stating that, having been handed Scotland’s home changing room at Murrayfield on Saturday, Connacht will be “playing Ireland on the other side” but there’s a strong hint of truth in there.
Certainly the expectation is that when Joe Schmidt announces his Ireland squad to travel to South Africa this afternoon, there will once again be a considerably larger number of Leinster players in it than the representations of the other provinces.
Add to their array of Test stars Leinster’s history of four Pro12 titles and three Heineken Cups and it’s clear why Lam says this is the greatest test Connacht could have faced for Saturday’s final.
“They set the benchmark. If you want to test yourself against the best, and we talk to the boys constantly about their rugby education and playing at that highest level and Test matches, here’s a chance to test ourselves against one of the best in Europe over the last ten years.”
There may well be a number of Connacht players in Saturday’s final motivated by having been left out of Schmidt’s South African party.
Lam believes that the best way for his Irish players to keep challenging Schmidt’s selection decision-making is by ensuring that they continue to perform and win.
“I think getting anybody in that [Ireland] team is fantastic,” says Lam. “When you play well for your team you promote yourself and we’ve seen that in the Six Nations when we had seven in a training squad.
“That’s all the boys can do and control – and this is what we talk about all the time. If you think ‘I want to be in Ireland and pick me,’ you ain’t going to make it.
“The number is not important to me, it’s around the fact that there are guys on that selection table. That’s up to Joe and his selectors to make their call.”
Ahead of Saturday’s final in Edinburgh, Connacht will have been poring over the footage of Leinster’s impressive semi-final win over Ulster at the RDS, when Leo Cullen’s men hit something of a peak in terms of their aggression and accuracy.
There was nothing extravagant about their game plan but the likes of Johnny Sexton, Jamie Heaslip and Jack McGrath kicked brilliantly, slammed rucks, or carried powerfully and collectively Leinster made visits to the opposition 22 pay off.
“That is the challenge,” says Lam of that Leinster performance, “that is the thing that is exciting. We were really impressed with what Leinster did. The whole country was and everyone is talking about it.
“That is what makes it exciting because it’s like right, that is the level, fellas, that is where we need to be at.
“If we don’t have that understanding of how we need to play and if we don’t bring the preparation for it, we will get beaten off the park.”
Going by recent evidence, Connacht fans shouldn’t be too concerned about their side’s preparation. The westerners’ repeated focus on their ‘systems and processes’ mean they have managed potentially pressurised situations well so far this season.
Lam’s experience of top-level rugby and finals in the Heineken Cup and then the ITM Cup as a coach will be helpful, although the former back row will also be leaning heavily on the excellent backroom staff around him.
The head coach has understandably and deservedly garnered much of the praise for Connacht’s journey, but he knows how important the coaches around him have been.
“The coaching group has been outstanding,” says Lam.
“Dave was keen to move into professional coaching at that stage. He’d been a while with Murray Mexted [director of the IRANZ] and I saw the work he did with young players in skill development and we were very much aligned.
“I said, ‘I’m going up to the west and there’s a bit of work to be done around skill levels,’ so he came and has really driven the programme.
“I want to highlight that all the coaches are skills coaches, they all do their bit, but we get Dave to oversee the individual ones.
“So if I’m working on the defence [system] I can’t go and work on a guy’s tackling [technique], so to have the one-on-one or the small group stuff is crucial and Dave has a real passion about it to look after that area, make sure all guys are ticking it off.
“And then Andre Bell [backs and kicking coach]. I brought in Andre for his ability with the backs and more importantly confidence. He brought a confidence to the backline around having a go and backing themselves, so there’s a lot of alignment there.
“Then the local boys. [Forwards coach] Jimmy Duffy’s been superb since he came up. He had big shoes to fill with Dan McFarland going to Glasgow. Jimmy’s been very successful in the academy, the way he deals with people.
“Me and him are very much aligned around sports psychology, around the way he thinks about the game. I like the way he does things, Jimmy, he knows the right buttons to push. He’s built on Dan’s work and taken on that forward pack with a lot of young guys coming through.
“Then to have [assistant attack coach] Conor McPhillips, who was originally our head performance analyst but I knew this guy could coach with his rugby brain, and he’s helped me tremendously this year with the team’s attack.
“I look after the defence and attack but him being able to do the donkey work for me as well his analysis ability, with his thoughts and my thoughts - me and him catch up normally after the game on a Sunday and think about where we want to attack a team.
“It’s a great team that I’ve got and they’ve done a great job this year.”
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