WITH THE FAVOURITES’ tag firmly attached to Leinster before a ball has been kicked in the Heineken Champions Cup, they can quietly be pretty content to get an opening opponent like Benetton today (kick-off 15.15, BT Sport).
Sure, the bookmakers and card-carrying supporters expect another emphatic win against an industrious Italian outfit who have never escaped the pool stage or beaten an Irish team in this competition. But within the ranks, there is no need to go too far back in the results history to find an L to stir up a motivating factor.
Anything less than a win at home leaves a sting for Leinster. And Treviso have left the RDS with a win and a draw on their last two visits.
It’s not solely a matter of selection, the heavy mitigation for those two results is competition. The sights and sounds of a Heineken Champions Cup will help ensure there is no repeat at the RDS this afternoon.
However, the switch doesn’t just flick automatically. There is always effort put in to tweak, modify and tune the mindset to the necessary frequency. This week, that work took the form of Sean O’Brien. The now-former Leinster flanker was invited back to his old stomping ground to speak about what the harp-emblazoned blue jersey meant to him, just to make doubly sure his young successors don’t take possession for granted.
“It set the tone for the week,” said Johnny Sexton of the Tuesday meeting, “I don’t think you need it necessarily because when you walk in the door on the Monday morning of a European week it is different. Everyone is excited and there is a different feel around the place.
“It was like that on Monday, but the meeting on Tuesday was brilliant.”
The captain added: “There is a lot of experience in the team, but there is a lot of young guys and we need to focus on ourselves and the performance. We don’t have time in a week like this to get around those young lads. And just for them to realise what it is like to play for Leinster in Europe and what it means to the guys that play with us.
“So getting those big days out and what it means to your family and all those close to you, they will never forget as well.
So it is just important that the young guys realise that and I think they know it as well anyway, they are born and bred in Leinster and they know what’s expected.”
The expectations are particularly lofty in Europe. That crest reinforces the premium value Leinster place on the Champions Cup. The fourth star it was added with great relish in 2018 and Sexton is already casting an eye sideways at Toulouse, whose win last night shows they also have an excellent opportunity to be the first side to win a fifth Heineken Cup next May.
It has always been the goal of the club to be the best in Europe. And if we can get that fifth star it will put us up there because no one else will have done it.
“You’ll see, Toulouse will be talking of the same thing. But it is motivation, we speak about it a little bit, obviously we don’t speak about it all the time. We spoke about last year, we got so close so that will be big motivation this year to try and go where no team has gone before.”
Almost as if to signal the final klaxon on lamentations for Ireland’s inability to break new ground in the World Cup, an incessant alarm bleep graced the midway point of Sexton’s post-captain’s run media duty yesterday.
Having been hampered with thumb and groin injuries en route to Japan, the out-half is bursting to get back on the field without the feeling of being constrained by a knock.
“When you dislocate your thumb playing touch rugby, there’s not much you can do about that and then when a maul collapses on you – I don’t know what I was doing in a maul – in Portugal. (So) I ended up hurting my groin and then off the back of that groin, it was niggly at different times as you saw during the World Cup.”
Those with niggles and setbacks have been left sidelined by Cullen today. Tadhg Furlong is managing a back issue, Robbie Henshaw’s pre-Connacht illness left him shy of the peak of his powers in the week’s early training sessions.
Sexton is joined by Jordan Larmour and Garry Ringrose in a back-line that is primed to break through a stubborn Benetton side. That is, after a James Ryan and Josh van der Flier-bolstered pack have broken them down.
The totemic figure in among them was unfortunately forced to move on from the World Cup over two months ago.
“He took the disappointment pretty hard, as you would,” Sexton says of Devin Toner.
“Look, there are lots of different reasons why he didn’t get picked. It is up to him to go into it, I am not going to go into that. But he is a guy that is well-liked in Ireland and Leinster and he is a guy who has performed at the top level for a long time. He is so calm when it comes to the set-piece when I am dealing with him in terms of lineout calling.
“He is brilliant to deal with – no matter what time of the game he will make good calls. It is good to get back with him. It was a big disappointment in his career but I am sure he will bounce back.”
A big man nursing a point to prove. Sounds like a handy weapon to have in the arsenal of a team pushing towards the pinnacle again.
Leinster
15. Jordan Larmour
14. Dave Kearney
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Joe Tomane
11. James Lowe
10. Jonathan Sexton (Capt)
9. Luke McGrath
1. Cian Healy
2. Ronan Kelleher
3. Andrew Porter
4. Devin Toner
5. James Ryan
6. Rhys Ruddock
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Caelan Doris
Replacements
16. James Tracy
17. Peter Dooley
18. Michael Bent
19. Scott Fardy
20. Max Deegan
21. Jamison Gibson-Park
22. Ross Byrne
23. Rory O’Loughlin
Benetton Rugby
15 Jayden Hayward
14 Angelo Esposito
13 Ignacio Brex
12 Alberto Sgarbi (C)
11 Luca Sperandio
10 Ian Keatley
9 Dewaldt Duvenage
1 Nicola Quaglio
2 Hame Faiva
3 Marco Riccioni
4 Irné Herbst
5 Dean Budd
6 Giovanni Pettinelli
7 Abraham Steyn
8 Nasi Manu
Replacements
16 Engjel Makelara
17 Federico Zani
18 Tiziano Pasquali
19 Marco Fuser
20 Marco Lazzaroni
21 Toa Halafihi
22 Tito Tebaldi
23 Tommaso Allan
Murray Kinsella and Bernard Jackman join Gavan Casey in studio to assess the four provinces and their chances heading into the 2019/20 Champions Cup campaign.
And this is the club that people on here defend. Wonder what religion the dole scroungers from Govan think their top scorer is. Can’t see Kris Boyd being as vocal on this one
@Roberts Mel: That’s a fact! You’d need to have a long hard look at yourself if your support or defend that club in any way, shape or form. Xenophobic bunch of knuckle draggers.
@Roberts Mel: you are just as bad as them you know. Condoning the coin throwing the other day. Always the victim
@Joe: please point our where I condoned the coin throwing? I never even mentioned it! So how did I condone it?
Well done Steve Clarke. Needs more players and officials who aren’t from Celtic calling out that crap for what it is.
@Cian Nolan: the only way anything will ever be done is if players and coaches keep highlighting it to the media. Good on Steve Clarke and Kris Boyd for calling out what he was subjected to last week.
@The Bloody Nine: “Good on Kris Boyd” Haha that’s a laugh.. He’s a bitter Rangers fan that forgets another football club is actually paying his wages. He’s been talking Rangers up all season even though is plays for Killie..
@David Garland: I can’t believe you think sectarian abuse and coin throwing is ok because of what team a guy supports. It’s wrong no matter who it’s aimed at.
@The Bloody Nine: Didn’t see David mention anything about coin throwing or sectarian abuse never mind David saying it was okay for these things to happen. He just made reference to Kris Boyd and how nice of a fella he is.
@Roberts Mel: why is telling me how nice Kris Boyd is? I don’t envisage any scenario where I’ll be meeting the lad so his personality is irrelevant to me, as is who he supports or pays his wages.
@The Bloody Nine: Show me where I condoned coin throwing and show us how Kris Boyd has been a victim of Sectarian abuse? Also my point is Kris Boyd is quick to talk up Rangers telling everyone Celtic are in crisis and they’re is a split in the dressing room while all the time he’s playing for Killie.. As I said he’s a bitter Rangers Fan who never comes out giving out about the sectarian chanting coming from Ibrox..
@David Garland: he was called a fat orange b*****d by the Celtic fans
@Anthony Connery: well they ain’t lying
@David Garland: my apologies David if I misunderstood your comment. However, I can’t see how it’s relevant to my point that the more people experience sectarianism in football the more it needs to be spoken about and highlighted. And that’s regardless of who you play for or support. I’m at a loss as to why you’re arguing with me about this!
Normally at this stage of the comments we’d have someone on blaming the Celtic fans for the huns sectarianism.. With Neil Lennon gone I suppose they have to get someone else to racially abuse.. But clearly Sevco don’t know the meaning of the word “Fenian”
Rte have a lot to answer for the showing of “British” games when the english teams were banned from Europe. I know quite a few lads who are rangers fans from that influence. All rangers games were shown live as a substitute for the uk games.
@Trevor Beacom: any Irish person supporting The Rangers clearly has some sort of mental health problem.
@Ciaran Rice: You get an awful lot of Irish people who will support them out of spite because they can’t get their head around Irish people supporting Celtic, that’s how idiotic some football fans are in this Country.. The same people think nothing of supporting Clubs like Chelsea who we all know love Rangers and the UVF
@Ciaran Rice: Knew a guy at work who used to wear sevco shirt and England one during internationals. Was done purely for attention and the wind-up. Would not go out in public dressed like that, though.
@Ciaran Rice: Yea I know a few Irish Rangers supporters and they ain’t mental.
Ive been a long time Celtic supporter neigh on 55 years and ive witnessed plenty sectarian stuff in the Old “Jungle” which is probably well before your time.
That said Rangers have an ultra toxic lot that are very vocal.
Is Steve Clarke not a Rangers fan.. Can’t understand why they called him that
@ColmD: Clarke and his entire family are Celtic fans.
@Ciaran Rice: I didn’t know that.. Like him even more now..
@Ciaran Rice: Yes he was touted as a Celtic Manager at one point.
@Nick Condon Sen: he’ll be the next Celtic manager when Brendan leaves I’d say.
@Ciaran Rice:
The newest club in Scotland , reminds us all of a previous old one , same sectarian dribble , coming from bitter begrudgers .
Huns
I wonder do Rangers fans watch Braveheart and think” thank god we got William Wallace. Long life longshanks”
Seriously Rangers fans have to be the most confused idiotic bunch.. they havnt the slightest clue of their own national identity or heritage