“THERE HAS BEEN a fair bit of growth across the group in relation to a different approach, grafting out wins and being a lot harder to beat.”
That line from head coach Matt O’Connor on Leinster’s 2013/14 season might be difficult to argue with, but it’s also the reason some have not enjoyed the Australian head coach’s first year in charge of the province.
Whatever the public and media perceptions of his time in Ireland so far, O’Connor has a positive outlook on his maiden campaign with Leinster, although he tempers that by saying that a win against Glasgow in tomorrow’s RaboDirect Pro12 final is vital.
“Relative to some of the things we have done, relative to the success through the Test windows, relative to the success of the B&I team, there has been genuine growth in the group.
There are a lot of positives. A lot of things will be gauged off the back of what happens on Saturday. From my end, there has been a lot of positives along the way and I think we will certainly be better for the journey. There are a couple of coaching adjustments to make next year but, by and large, it is the same group.
“As a result of the combinations that I’ve developed with players and they have developed inside the squad, we will be in a pretty good place next season.”
Chief among the aspects of this campaign that allow O’Connor’s positive assessment have been the performances of some of the previously less heralded members of the squad.
The likes of Rhys Ruddock, Jack McGrath, Martin Moore, Dave Kearney and Noel Reid have grown into important pieces of the Leinster make-up, providing O’Connor with much hope for the future.
“There have been a lot of stand-out individuals who have stuck their hand up and have certainly pushed to start for us, have pushed the national side a little bit harder, and we have got probably a broader group, which is really important given we are going to be losing some experience over the next 12, 18 months, two years.”
Whatever about progress next season, there is a trophy on the line tomorrow evening at the RDS. Silverware in his first year with the province would be a major boost for O’Connor, as well as a reminder that Leinster are still a force.
The former Leicester Tigers’ coach rates Glasgow as the form team in the Pro12, pointing to the rounded brand of rugby Gregor Townsend’s men play.
They have been on a really good roll and they have been the best side in the league since Christmas without a doubt. We have to make sure we stop that momentum and we deliver on the things that makes us good and nullifies their strengths.
“They are very physical; they are very direct. They have got some fantastic finishers. They have got a very dangerous bench, with their Fijian boys to come on and play and open up the game.
“Across the board, they are really good at the vast majority of the aspects of the game. We are going to have to be very good across the board to contain them and exert our pressure at key moments.”
These two games against top English sides are great opportunities for Tom Ahern to propel himself into the Irish squad
@Kevin Ryan: izzy, baird, conan, pendergast and timoney all ahead at this stage.
@chris mcdonnell: stopped reading at conan….
@chris mcdonnell: I don’t want to knock anyone. They’re all good players of course; but I think we know by now that Prendergast and Timoney are pretty unlikely to ever establish themselves in the Ireland side. Ahern has the potential to do so.
@Niall English: The 42 is an interesting selection to have your mid life crises on
@Niall English: conan ahead of the lot of them. Not sure about the rest though.
@chris mcdonnell: I think Baird has moved down the Irish pecking order. Not sure the reason why but it seems he has. I think Ahern will be more used in 2nd row by IRL going forward but also cover 6 ahead of Baird. I think Izzy will eventually take a starting hold on that 6 jersey. Conan is an 8 who can do a job at 6. lineout skilks wouldn’t be his strength though and that works against starting him. My feeling is POM will start v England at 6 or at least be on the bench. No doubt he’s behind many others in general play but our LO is critical to starting the 6n’s well and he’s still our best LO jumper.
@Michael Corkery: He’s only started 9 times at 6. Munster have won a grand total of 1 of those games. Putting that to one side, it’s still manifestly obvious that he should be concentrating on second row, given both his height and the number of options at blindside.
If Munster were talking about the good things they did against Leinster, it was a short talk. We need the injury list to clear up, it would be great to pick a 23 match day squad that isn’t influenced by injured players.
Don’t know why Munster are always going on about O’Mahony these days. The guy is busted flush, worn out and too old. Not his fault now. Munster have to pick Ahern ahead of him and bench him. We lost to England last year because he wasn’t at the races with the young English back row so we lost another grand slam because he wasn’t up to it.
@Jimmy Bean: i do recall doris getting grossly outplayed by ben earl in that game also, not the first time hes gone AWOL when the chips are down.
@Niall English: Mr Bean only sees what he wants to see.
@Niall English: He left VanDFl and Doris on their own to play by themselves against the English. He was benched for the South Africa tour so it’s just not me who thinks he’s past it.
@Leonard Barry: Lotta beans on here
@Jimmy Bean: you know the French saying « No scrum, no win ». I got a similar one for the upcoming England game, « No lineout, no win ». Certainly PO’M is not as good as others around the field, but if our lineout calling and throwing is going to continue to be as bad as it has recently, the 2nd best defensive LO in the world is going to have an absolute field day. We’ll need PO’M on the bench at the very least. He can win it at the front if all else fails.