AS HIS OWN game continues to blossom, Luke McGrath is relishing the prospect of going up against ‘one of the best’ scrum-halves in the world in Ruan Pienaar when Montpellier visit the RDS on Saturday.
Since the door opened for him at the start of last season, the 24-year-old has certainly seized his opportunity with both hands and he finished last term by touring USA and Japan with Joe Schmidt’s Ireland, adding to the two caps he won against Canada and England.
McGrath started more games for Leinster last season [21] than in his previous five years years with the eastern province and the development and sharpening of his distribution, support play and kicking game has firmly established him as Leinster’s first-choice nine and advanced his cause for further international recognition.
Having last weekend gone head-to-head with Conor Murray at the Aviva Stadium, McGrath will this week pit his wits against a player he has previously spoken of his admiration for during Pienaar’s seven years in Ireland.
The former St Michael’s College student grew up watching the classy South African pull the strings and dictate the tempo of countless games from the half-back line, and all the while began to study the Springbok’s game to draw inspiration from it.
“He is one of the best scrum-halves I’ve played against,” McGrath says ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup clash. “Every single time I play against him, I look forward to the challenge. You are only going to better yourself against this calibre of player.”
McGrath is full of praise for his opposite number in Montpellier’s all-star side, although he admits his focus will be on what he does and what ways he can control the contest for Leinster.
“You focus on your own game because you don’t come into contact too many times,” he continued.
“What Ruan does so well is every time he is running to the ruck, he is scanning the backfield because he is such a good kicking option.
“You could be on your halfway line defending him, the next thing you know you are five metres from your own line. It is those kinds of things he does so well. He is such a world-class player and they have world-class players all over the place.
“He is just so smart and he has played at ten as well. He’s got that natural ability. His length of pass is good. He always seems to choose the right option – when to run, when not to run.
“Even you see him often now, whenever they get a penalty, he takes a quick one. He doesn’t even let the wingers get set. He just keeps the momentum rolling. It is just those smart little details he does which make him one of the best.”
And McGrath has been fortunate not just to learn from the best in opposition changing rooms over the last 12 months but also work alongside Murray over an extended period during last year’s November internationals as well as the Six Nations.
McGrath has appeared to jumped ahead of Kieran Marmion in the pecking order but the competition for places at both Ireland and Leinster is fierce, with Jamison Gibson-Park and Nick McCarthy both pushing their own case for inclusion at the province.
Anybody who watches McGrath will appreciate his tireless work-rate as well as the improvements he has made in several facets of his game, including more match awareness and he knows he needs to continually fine-tune his skills in order to stay on this upward curve.
“I know from our squad, training every day, it is very competitive,” he adds. “In Ireland, at the moment, Murray has been incredible, even on the Lions tour.
“It was great to see him do so well, especially when I get to know him a bit more last year. It is going the right way.”
The return of Pienaar to Ireland for the first time since his contentious departure from Ulster during the summer is just one of the fascinating subplots surrounding Saturday’s European clash in Dublin.
McGrath and Leinster are under no illusions of the size of the task which faces them, as Vern Cotter’s Top 14 heavyweights arrive seeking revenge for their humbling defeat at the RDS last January.
“They have threats all around the park,” he says. “One way to beat them is not to have many mistakes, if any. Their back three is so impressive. The nine and ten run the game.
“They crowd you well and can put you under pressure with any type of game. Their maul is very strong as well. It is a massive, massive challenge and if we want to win, we have to be right on our game.”
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Is JGP a waste of a project slot?
@Russell Berry: No
@Russell Berry: decent back up in my opinion. McCarthy will be ahead of him next season I feel. JPG would be better used up in Ulster.
@Russell Berry: he’s different to McGrath and can change games if it’s not working. He’d be better with Carbury at 10 than Byrne as Joey would suit his broken game a little better
@David OfBrien: Ulster have one decent scrum half that they didn’t develop themselves. Would be interesting to see JGP behind a pack as bad as Ulsters
@Russell Berry: Yes, average player. Nick McCarthy is a better player and once he gains experience will overtake him.
@Russell Berry: Great post. Great to see you getting behind the provinces for the weekend. Ulster pack I do not believe could be classed ‘bad’. Not great but certainly better than bad.
@Trevor Johnston: They were bad against connacht, that’s for sure. Fortunately they have a quality coach and according to McLaughlin, Leinster’s pack owed a lot of their improvement to being humiliated against the Munster pack… So the future could be bright up north
@Rudiger McMonihan: careful Rudiger. You nearly said something positive
Having watched Pienaar play for Montpellier a few times this season, what stands out is his rugby brain. Whereas other scrum-halves may come to a new club and take time to fit in the system, Pienaar has instead redefined the way Montpellier play, while making them play better. A genius player.
I think scrum-half is now the only position in Ireland where we have four provinces with four potential Irish internationals.
Murray clearly ahead.
Marmion and McGrath are improving all the time, both have really upped their physicality in the past year or two.
Cooney is beginning to evolve into the player many at Leinster hoped he would, I think by the end of this season he will be closer to the Pienaar role at Ulster rather than a standard scrum-half.
Great depth for Ireland at the moment.
Pienaar gone, let it go.
I hope Nucifora is at the RDS on Saturday to remind himself what rigid adherence to rules can deny a country and a league. Ulster’s unfair loss is Montpelier’s gain.
@e o’keeffe: “Rigid”!!?? Ulster were allowed keep Pienaar for years beyond the norm even though Ireland lacked depth in the position! How much more flexibility do you want!?
@Camroc: Nacewa!!!!!!!
@Trevor Johnston: Nacewa, one of leinsters 3 non nationals who keeps zero players out of the team. Well done on that comparison
@Rudiger McMonihan: Don’t think Kelleher or Conway would agree. They had to go elsewhere
@Camroc: about two years more, until he retired and moves into a coaching role with the province. Your point emphasises what a stupid decision it was – having let the man and his family get totally settled in Ulster, why change tack at that late stage? Cooney could have fitted into the set-up, alongside Pienaar, without doing any damage to the stocks of potential future Irish 9s.
@e o’keeffe: Cooney is doing a great job for Ulster now and they also have a young Irish lad in the mix as 2nd/3rd choice. It was just the push they needed. Regarding Nacewa, he played in a non specialist position across the backline. He didn’t keep anyone out as loads of guys came through during his time there. You could just as easily say Kelleher left because of Byrne and Carbery playing in the backline and as for Conway, he was kept out by Fitzgerald McFadden and the Kearneys. How many Ulster scrum halves came through during Pienaars time?
@Rudiger McMonihan: the young lad you are talking about is Shanahan. He has been there all along and was not held back by Ruan. He is simply not good enough.
@e o’keeffe: Ireland has 4 starting 9′s at our clubs, how’s that a loss?
@Trevor Johnston: Conway and Kelleher were both wanted at Leinster and choose to move, both had a number of back 3 players ahead of them and not ISA. Leinster have produced plenty of back 3 players during this time Ulster on the other hand didn’t give any young 9′s game time so the move proved correct
@Chris Mc: total rubbish. A least a half dozen Irish scrum halves have been tried out by Ulster. Where do you think players such as Shanahan, Paul Marshall, Cairns, Lloyd, Porter come from?