AS LEINSTER UNVEILED a new prop experiment and delivered another massive defensive performance at Thomond Park on Friday night, Jacques Nienaber’s ever-growing influence on the province was clear.
The relentlessness of Leinster’s effort without the ball and even some of their attacking plays – such as launching a garryowen into the Munster 22 for Robbie Henshaw to contest off a lineout attack – were Springboks-esque.
There’s no doubt the team’s DNA has changed under the guidance of Nienaber, who is head coach in all but name. His predecessor, Stuart Lancaster, put a huge focus on Leinster’s phase-play attack shape but Leinster are now more interested in pressuring their opponents into conceding penalties, kicking into the 22, and striking clinically from close range.
While many Leinster fans still seem to be waiting for the old phase-play attack to ‘click,’ it seems evident that their team are spending less time focusing on that. Leinster’s own sense is that their current style can get them over the line in cup rugby later this season.
Not that they enjoyed Munster defence coach Denis Leamy labelling them as “brilliantly boring” in the build-up to Friday night’s bonus-point win at Thomond Park. Leamy insisted it was a compliment but Leinster boss Leo Cullen wasn’t so sure.
“I don’t know about that,” said Cullen after his side’s 28-7 victory.
“I think Leams knew what he was saying there. That was just the old stirring the pot there. You know it as well. He knows it, you know it. I know exactly what he was doing.”
Despite the signs on the pitch, Cullen insisted that Leinster’s style hasn’t changed over the last two seasons since Nienaber arrived.
“No,” said Cullen. “We want to develop all parts of our game so that is set-pieces, attack, defence, all of it, the transition game. You can see there was some good opportunities out there that we didn’t quite nail. That’s the bit we need to keep working on.”
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Joe McCarthy makes a big carry for Leinster. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
He highlighted how Leinster’s big Ireland international group were late back into pre-season after being on the tour of South Africa and were then gone again for the autumn internationals, meaning challenges for the coaching staff in having everyone on the same page.
“We want the perfect performance on both sides of the ball,” said Cullen. “Are we there yet? No, but will we get there? Hopefully, but it will take plenty of work.”
As Leinster think about trying to get the perfect performance after their 100% winning start to this season, Munster are licking their wounds after a disappointing, frustrating night at Thomond Park.
Interim head coach Ian Costello rightly pointed out that Leinster’s clinical edge from close range was the difference between the sides and indicated his confusion about the legality of Josh van der Flier’s second-half try, but the difference in quality between the teams was still notable.
Leinster’s comparative depth meant they could rest a big group of Ireland internationals against Connacht two weekends ago while still fielding a team that included Jordie Barrett, RG Snyman, and many other internationals. Then the frontline Ireland contingent returned on Friday night to hammer into Munster.
The southern province have also had to manage their relatively small number of internationals, meaning out-half Jack Crowley was rested against Leinster after being part of a bonus-point win up in Ulster the previous weekend.
“To be fair to the IRFU, they’ve recommended a number of games over a period,” said Costello. “It’s at our discretion when we rest players. We’ve different plans around different players around giving us the best opportunity to get as many points as we possibly can.
“It’s always a massive decision for a player not to be played in a game like this. If it wasn’t this one, it would have been Saracens or Northampton [in the Champions Cup] and we’d be having the same conversation.
“So it’s probably one of those things where we feel we have to do the best thing for the team and for the squad at a particular point and Jack, as always, was outstanding about it.”
Josh van der Flier scored one of Leinster's tries. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Costello said he had no doubt that if Crowley hadn’t featured in Ulster, then Munster would have struggled to get that crucial bonus-point win.
The frustration was that Munster didn’t pick up even a single losing bonus point in defeat to Leinster.
Munster were missing a big chunk of injured players and while Leinster have their own injury issues with players as good as James Lowe, Tadhg Furlong, and Hugo Keenan currently sidelined, there’s no doubt that losing the likes of Thaakir Abrahams, Craig Casey, and Jean Kleyn has a huge impact on Munster’s shallower squad.
Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Jack O’Donoghue, and Diarmuid Barron were all close to proving their fitness for the Leinster game and should return for Champions Cup action in January, while Munster have had a good look at their training approach in the hope of limiting future issues.
“We’ve had a deep dive into our load, how we train, what we train and the S&C and medics are doing an outstanding job,” said Costello. “We were tracking very positively up until about two weeks ago and then out of those we’ve had eight injuries and seven are traumatic or pretty acute. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about those.
“The key now and I kind of want to keep it away from injuries because we’ve still got quality. We had the likes of Evan O’Connell, Ruadhan Quinn and Sean Edogbo playing an A game today [against Leinster] so there’s still a very competitive squad there.
“I want to focus on what we have rather than what we don’t have.”
That’s all Munster’s coaches can do right now but the simple reality is that they don’t have what Leinster have.
So while the men in blue think about experimental selections and improving on a 100% start to the season, Munster must battle just to keep their old rivals in sight.
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Friday in Limerick showed the difference between Leinster and Munster
AS LEINSTER UNVEILED a new prop experiment and delivered another massive defensive performance at Thomond Park on Friday night, Jacques Nienaber’s ever-growing influence on the province was clear.
The relentlessness of Leinster’s effort without the ball and even some of their attacking plays – such as launching a garryowen into the Munster 22 for Robbie Henshaw to contest off a lineout attack – were Springboks-esque.
There’s no doubt the team’s DNA has changed under the guidance of Nienaber, who is head coach in all but name. His predecessor, Stuart Lancaster, put a huge focus on Leinster’s phase-play attack shape but Leinster are now more interested in pressuring their opponents into conceding penalties, kicking into the 22, and striking clinically from close range.
While many Leinster fans still seem to be waiting for the old phase-play attack to ‘click,’ it seems evident that their team are spending less time focusing on that. Leinster’s own sense is that their current style can get them over the line in cup rugby later this season.
Not that they enjoyed Munster defence coach Denis Leamy labelling them as “brilliantly boring” in the build-up to Friday night’s bonus-point win at Thomond Park. Leamy insisted it was a compliment but Leinster boss Leo Cullen wasn’t so sure.
“I don’t know about that,” said Cullen after his side’s 28-7 victory.
“I think Leams knew what he was saying there. That was just the old stirring the pot there. You know it as well. He knows it, you know it. I know exactly what he was doing.”
Despite the signs on the pitch, Cullen insisted that Leinster’s style hasn’t changed over the last two seasons since Nienaber arrived.
“No,” said Cullen. “We want to develop all parts of our game so that is set-pieces, attack, defence, all of it, the transition game. You can see there was some good opportunities out there that we didn’t quite nail. That’s the bit we need to keep working on.”
He highlighted how Leinster’s big Ireland international group were late back into pre-season after being on the tour of South Africa and were then gone again for the autumn internationals, meaning challenges for the coaching staff in having everyone on the same page.
“We want the perfect performance on both sides of the ball,” said Cullen. “Are we there yet? No, but will we get there? Hopefully, but it will take plenty of work.”
As Leinster think about trying to get the perfect performance after their 100% winning start to this season, Munster are licking their wounds after a disappointing, frustrating night at Thomond Park.
Interim head coach Ian Costello rightly pointed out that Leinster’s clinical edge from close range was the difference between the sides and indicated his confusion about the legality of Josh van der Flier’s second-half try, but the difference in quality between the teams was still notable.
Leinster’s comparative depth meant they could rest a big group of Ireland internationals against Connacht two weekends ago while still fielding a team that included Jordie Barrett, RG Snyman, and many other internationals. Then the frontline Ireland contingent returned on Friday night to hammer into Munster.
The southern province have also had to manage their relatively small number of internationals, meaning out-half Jack Crowley was rested against Leinster after being part of a bonus-point win up in Ulster the previous weekend.
“To be fair to the IRFU, they’ve recommended a number of games over a period,” said Costello. “It’s at our discretion when we rest players. We’ve different plans around different players around giving us the best opportunity to get as many points as we possibly can.
“It’s always a massive decision for a player not to be played in a game like this. If it wasn’t this one, it would have been Saracens or Northampton [in the Champions Cup] and we’d be having the same conversation.
“So it’s probably one of those things where we feel we have to do the best thing for the team and for the squad at a particular point and Jack, as always, was outstanding about it.”
Costello said he had no doubt that if Crowley hadn’t featured in Ulster, then Munster would have struggled to get that crucial bonus-point win.
The frustration was that Munster didn’t pick up even a single losing bonus point in defeat to Leinster.
Munster were missing a big chunk of injured players and while Leinster have their own injury issues with players as good as James Lowe, Tadhg Furlong, and Hugo Keenan currently sidelined, there’s no doubt that losing the likes of Thaakir Abrahams, Craig Casey, and Jean Kleyn has a huge impact on Munster’s shallower squad.
Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Jack O’Donoghue, and Diarmuid Barron were all close to proving their fitness for the Leinster game and should return for Champions Cup action in January, while Munster have had a good look at their training approach in the hope of limiting future issues.
“We’ve had a deep dive into our load, how we train, what we train and the S&C and medics are doing an outstanding job,” said Costello. “We were tracking very positively up until about two weeks ago and then out of those we’ve had eight injuries and seven are traumatic or pretty acute. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about those.
“The key now and I kind of want to keep it away from injuries because we’ve still got quality. We had the likes of Evan O’Connell, Ruadhan Quinn and Sean Edogbo playing an A game today [against Leinster] so there’s still a very competitive squad there.
“I want to focus on what we have rather than what we don’t have.”
That’s all Munster’s coaches can do right now but the simple reality is that they don’t have what Leinster have.
So while the men in blue think about experimental selections and improving on a 100% start to the season, Munster must battle just to keep their old rivals in sight.
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GAP Jacques Nienaber Leinster Munster