MATT O’CONNOR HAS just finished his first season at Leinster as a league winner but is acutely aware the Heineken Cup is the high-water mark of success.
The former Leicester Tigers coach guided the Blues to the RaboDirect Pro12 title on Saturday but admitted his squad was not strong enough in the Heineken Cup this season. With the likes of Brian O’Driscoll and Leo Cullen retiring, Leinster will need more than new signings Kane Douglas [lock] and Sean MacCarthy [prop] to compete with Europe’s elite in the new Champions Cup.
O’Connor declared, “I’d like to bring in five or six but that is never going to happen.” He added, “I’m arguing every day with the IRFU to make sure we’re good enough to win Europe. That’s the reality. Whether it happens or not, I don’t know.”
Asked if the current squad is not good enough to challenge for Heineken Cups, the Australian remarked, “We didn’t win [this year], did we? You’d have to say yes [we're not good enough].”
One area O’Connor remains restless about is the Leinster midfield. O’Driscoll and Eoin O’Malley have retired and while they have earned glowing compliments, neither Brendan Macken or Noel Reid made the bench for the Pro12 final. O’Connor has not ruled out another shopping trip abroad to shore up midfield. ”We’re looking at options all the time,” he said. It’s important that we get the fit right.
Culturally, it is such an important slot. The 13 jersey has been such an iconic slot for Leinster for a long time. We need to make sure that we get that right. As soon as we get that outside slot allotted, whether it is an outside body, you guys will be the first to know. Guaranteed.”
O’Connor praised ‘international class’ Zane Kirchner, who scored two tries to end his debut season on a high, and promised Leinster would be a much better footy side in 12 months. Assessing his first season at the helm, he said, “You can only beat what’s in front of you. We lost away to Toulon, in a tough place against a really, really good side.
“There were certain elements in this room that wanted to write us off — [saying] that we’re in transition, we’re not good enough and all the things that go with that — but Toulon are a good side and they showed that last week in the Heineken Cup final. We weren’t as good as we needed to be and that still hurts the whole group. Beyond that [game], we’ve been better and better.”
Fair play to ya Chris,don’t be afraid to fail , hope Wales go all the way.
They need to scrap that poxy yellow card rule , to many players are missing huge games for silly yellow cards . That ref was trigger happy with his cards , poor Ramsey gonna miss this biggest game of gis life for an accidental handball ,bullshit
Considering the length of this tournament, should have been an amnesty by the semi’s….. Stupid rules….
Crazy that there’s no amnesty.
Yellow Cards in consecutive games should result in a one match ban….. Other than that they shouldn’t count. Very harsh. He was brilliant today…..
Agree Ryan,he should at least be able to appeal it.
Totally agree. No way should you miss a semi or final..carry it forward and maybe make it a 2 game ban for next qualifying tournament? ??-
Belgium : A country that bottles great beer and big tournaments. Fair play to Wales.
England to sign up Colman in £10 million deal.
Emotional Cookie-monster motivates an entire country. Sports people of all grades appreciate the hard work that goes into creating the winning team effort. That was a proud moment for our Celtic comrades!!
Bale vs Ronaldo Semi-final… can’t wait
Team player v me feiner
I really hope they go all the way
Portugal have really rode their luck in their last 2 games and have not been at all impressive…. Wales have every chance….. could they repeat Denmark and Greece as being underdog champions? Either way I fancy them against Portugal.
Amazing amazing achievement by Wales which kind of puts were we are as a football team into perspective. Look at how they beat Belgium- playing football & not in anyway hanging on. We on the other hand seem to have this slight sense of euphoria about the euros yet we literally can’t play football. Still long ball rubbish. The sense is that we are on the right track – we’re not. And the media is still on about how great our fans are. Some joke.
Fair play to Wales. We have vastly improved since the last tournament. no disrespect to Brady but she’s a not Bail.
damn autocorrect. Brady is not Bail
Well england were you watching…??.I rest my case!!
What case is that?