THE COACHING AND technical staff of Stade Francais poured over 31 videos of Leinster matches this season and focused on five encounters where they believe there is a weakness.
“We hear a lot about how Leinster are favourites,” Stade captain Sergio Parisse told TheScore.ie, “but we saw, from a few games this season, that we can beat them, for sure. We watched the Clermont games and [the match] against Glasgow Warriors last week.”
The visitor’s will have noted the pressure Glasgow applied on the breakdown, during their narrow 17-15 defeat, and the successful maul that had Leinster on the brink of a loss to the Scots for a third time this season. Ultimately, Joe Schmidt’s side displayed the winning mentality, honed over the past five years, and triumphed.
Advertisement
Parisse, who stressed the importance of shutting down the influential, ball-carrying Sean O’Brien, noted the stifling impact borne upon the Leinster front five by Clermont in the Heineken Cup pool stages. Schmidt admitted, after this year’s Heineken Cup finalists defeated them at the Aviva Stadium, that his team had been “outmuscled”.
Former Leinster and Ireland hooker Shane Byrne believes the Stade strategy is sound and an injury-hit Leinster have a battle on their hands this evening.
He told TheScore.ie, “The Warriors probably deserved the draw, to take the [Pro12] semi-final to extra time but they were left ruing that missed conversion. I still don’t think they would have won as their discipline was starting to let them down at that stage.
There are not a lot of ways of beating Leinster but Clermont and Glasgow showed that it can be possible. They kept pushing and pushing them back, won battles at the gain line and, most importantly, retained possession.”
The physical nature of Leinster’s two-point victory over Glasgow came at a cost, with Brian O’Driscoll, Kevin McLaughlin, who ‘looked like The Elephant Man coming off’, and Cian Healy all walking gingerly to the sidelines. Byrne is confident that Jack McGrath can hold up his side of the scrum for 50 minutes, setting the stage for Healy as an impact sub.
Byrne added, “The changes in the Leinster team have, for the most part, been enforced by injury but that midfield duo of Ian Madigan and Fergus McFadden will not let you down. Stade Francais are a hardened side, though, with stars all over the place. The great Parisse is one of my favourite players and, if he can exert his influence, Stade can turn it on and play some great rugby.
*TheScore.ie will be liveblogging all the action at the RDS from 7:30pm this evening.
Parisse and Stade eager to emulate Clermont and beat Leinster up
THE COACHING AND technical staff of Stade Francais poured over 31 videos of Leinster matches this season and focused on five encounters where they believe there is a weakness.
“We hear a lot about how Leinster are favourites,” Stade captain Sergio Parisse told TheScore.ie, “but we saw, from a few games this season, that we can beat them, for sure. We watched the Clermont games and [the match] against Glasgow Warriors last week.”
The visitor’s will have noted the pressure Glasgow applied on the breakdown, during their narrow 17-15 defeat, and the successful maul that had Leinster on the brink of a loss to the Scots for a third time this season. Ultimately, Joe Schmidt’s side displayed the winning mentality, honed over the past five years, and triumphed.
Parisse, who stressed the importance of shutting down the influential, ball-carrying Sean O’Brien, noted the stifling impact borne upon the Leinster front five by Clermont in the Heineken Cup pool stages. Schmidt admitted, after this year’s Heineken Cup finalists defeated them at the Aviva Stadium, that his team had been “outmuscled”.
Leo Cullen gets to grips with Nathan Hines. (©INPHO/Billy Stickland)
Former Leinster and Ireland hooker Shane Byrne believes the Stade strategy is sound and an injury-hit Leinster have a battle on their hands this evening.
He told TheScore.ie, “The Warriors probably deserved the draw, to take the [Pro12] semi-final to extra time but they were left ruing that missed conversion. I still don’t think they would have won as their discipline was starting to let them down at that stage.
The physical nature of Leinster’s two-point victory over Glasgow came at a cost, with Brian O’Driscoll, Kevin McLaughlin, who ‘looked like The Elephant Man coming off’, and Cian Healy all walking gingerly to the sidelines. Byrne is confident that Jack McGrath can hold up his side of the scrum for 50 minutes, setting the stage for Healy as an impact sub.
Byrne added, “The changes in the Leinster team have, for the most part, been enforced by injury but that midfield duo of Ian Madigan and Fergus McFadden will not let you down. Stade Francais are a hardened side, though, with stars all over the place. The great Parisse is one of my favourite players and, if he can exert his influence, Stade can turn it on and play some great rugby.
*TheScore.ie will be liveblogging all the action at the RDS from 7:30pm this evening.
Schmidt: O’Driscoll presence makes a coach’s job easier
Bienvenue à Dublin: 10 things you French lads ought to know about the city
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Amlin Challenge Cup Final Countdown Jamie Heaslip Leinster Rugby Sergio Parisse Shane Byrne Clermont Glasgow Warriors Stade Français