Conor O’Shea relishing clash against former club Leinster

You can't be laid back and survive this long at the elite level. No way. Conor O'Shea's brief as Harlequins director of rugby has grown hugely these past five years but, essentially, he supplies the road map then gets out of his players' way.

In reality, he has been doing that for a very long time. At least as far back as 1999.

“He really took me under his wing,” said Gordon D’Arcy recently, speaking in the context of adopting a similar role with Robbie Henshaw. “He was a great professional and I really would have loved to spend a bit more time with him. With the benefit of hindsight, I didn’t realise how good I had it. I really should have used that resource more.”

O'Shea betrays a natural humility when attempting to play down his impact on the Leinster veteran all those years ago.

“I probably put my arm around Gordon to stop him playing in my position! I’ll never forget when Gats [Warren Gatland] brought him and Brian along to their first Irish training session. You work really hard and try to be as good as you can be, then these guys come along with such talent and you realise ‘I will never be like them.’

“Darce is a phenomenal talent, from schoolboy all the way up. Did he enjoy his youth? Yes. Was he the nicest – I’ll say kid because he was when I met him first? Yes.”

The questions-and-answers style O’Shea uses when talking rugby should be familiar to the public from watching how he, along with Shane Horgan and Ronan O’Gara, have ushered in a new era of serious and concise analysis on RTÉ.

Native province

This week though, he’s the enemy. A role he relishes, especially against his native province and especially as it’s never happened before.

“It is pretty special for me. I said to someone recently that I scored the first ever Leinster try in Europe a long, long time ago.”

It was November 1st, 1995. A 24-21 victory in front of 1,200 at the Stadio Comunale Giuriati. “I remember we all got a fiver to go out and buy dinner that night in Milan, which didn’t go very far. Times have changed.”

Times have even changed, dramatically, since the last time Harlequins and Leinster met at The Stoop. The 2009 European quarter-final finished 6-5. Former All Black Nick Evans, you may remember, returned to the field and almost stole it for Quins – then under the control of Dean Richards.

The rest of that affair is solidly documented under ‘Bloodgate’. “It’s part of our history. Since then, we have won three major trophies, we have been in the top four for the past three seasons.”

O'Shea arrived in March 2010 and by May 2012 Harlequins had captured a first ever Premiership title. Men like England captain Chris Robshaw and Evans, along with Danny Care, Mike Brown and Joe Marler – key figures if England's World Cup mission is to prove successful – saw to that.

O’Shea gave them the road map. Then got out of their way.

“There is an expectation that surrounds the club every time we take the field now,” he says, admitting that four wins from nine Premiership outings is not ideal. “We’ll fix that after Europe. I would prefer to be judged on the highest standards rather than coast along in mediocrity.

“We are pretty proud of what we have done in terms of the English team – we have more in the squad than any other club. We blood young players. The salary cap makes that essential. Success has meant higher wages for individuals and that means smaller squads.

“Those who come through our academy, hopefully, they go that one step further for each other.” This has become a centre point of the masterplan.

“We call them the ‘under-24s,’” O’Shea explains. “There is a whole raft of them and if we keep them together, they will become an exceptional group of players.”

Travelling fans

Marler, the incumbent England loosehead, is the leader both to them and, at 24, the club itself. The following list means little to travelling Leinster fans: Rob Buchanan, Will Collier, Kyle Sinckler, Charlie Matthews, Sam Twomey, George Merrick, Jack Clifford (who captained the England under-20s to the World Cup in 2013), Joe Trayfoot, Marland Yard and Ross Chisholm.

“Every club has young players but that’s a pretty tasty pack of forwards. It’s clichéd, but it’s about being proud of your parish. There is a real parochialism in the Irish provinces and we look at that when we are building.

“Toulon have a wallet that bought them European titles, Leinster created [theirs]. To me they [Leinster] are the best team in Europe over the last five years.”

Residue from Bloodgate is of little relevance here but a more recent history lesson was necessary. In 2013, Munster, seemingly a crumbling empire, journeyed to Twickenham without a prayer.

Paul O’Connell was returning from long-term injury, while Ronan O’Gara was nearing the end. The English champions looked primed to progress to the semi-final, especially after mincing Munster’s eight in the very first scrum – 3-0. It was 9-3 coming up to half-time. What happened next can sit beside any great day witnessed by the red army. It finished 12-18 with O’Gara striking six penalties and O’Connell, in just 80 herculean minutes, becoming nailed on to tour Australia with the Lions.

O’Shea, of Kerry All-Ireland-winning extraction, had to swallow hard. “People say we were bullied. We weren’t really. I probably bore people on telly by always talking about the small margins but against Munster that’s what mattered.

“There was a moment in that match when we had an opportunity, I can bring you back to the turnover, Tommy O’Donnell off a Danny Care tap and go. If we got the momentum there, we got a score and the lead. It was that exact moment.

“Now, should Danny have tapped and go? Absolutely. That’s the way we play. The problem was we didn’t react, we didn’t clear the ruck.

“Matches change on very small things. That said, O’Gara was unbelievable, O’Connell totemic and they did bring a physicality. The crowd got into it. It was an amazing atmosphere.

“We have referenced it this week. This is our home. It will be physical. That doesn’t mean we will win but we will put ourselves out on that pitch.”

Deliver the blueprint and get out of their way.

Captain Marker

Making Marler his captain is probably the best example of how O’Shea conducts business. It was no whim to take the title off Robshaw, not unlike Michael Cheika swapping Brian O’Driscoll with Leo Cullen in 2008.

From the outside peering in, Marler looks a liability in the Dylan Hartley mould, just without the ugly disciplinary record. Wrong.

“I made him captain on an England under-18 team, which nobody knows about. I have a lot of time for Joe. Does he have an aggressive side? A prop who plays big finals and international rugby at 21 doesn’t survive without an edge. Over the years he has learned to control that.

“People look at the haircut [a mohican], which is actually gone now. I always look for feedback from referees. After Castres, I asked Nigel Owens for feedback to give to Joe and his reaction was, ‘You know, he surprised me. He is a lot different to what I thought.’ Stick him in a certain environment and the leader comes out.

“I just wanted to take some pressure off Chris. It’s giving Chris that balance heading into the World Cup. But our leadership group on field is still Joe Marler, Chris Robshaw, Nick Easter, Danny Care and Nick Evans.”

Contrast that with Leinster’s, led impressively this term by Jamie Heaslip and ably assisted by Rob Kearney but the frontrow, backrow and halfback lieutenants appear to give Harlequins a slight edge.

Not that the form of Rhys Ruddock, Sean Cronin, or Ian Madigan should be anything to worry about, while Mike Ross, returning to his former club, against Marler at scrum time will be engrossing.

Referee Jérôme Garcès has a tough assignment.

So ends this prelude. But we couldn’t help pursuing the D’Arcy line of enquiry. For one important reason; it delves deeper into the type of character O’Shea seeks within a group of men.

“To this day, Darce is exactly the same. Nothing has changed him. It’s important what you are like as a rugby player, but more important what you are like as a person.

“Darce is just a genuinely nice bloke who happens to be a bloody good rugby player. I hope he goes to the World Cup, as I think Ireland can do something amazing next year, whether he be the father figure, putting arms around fellas, or the starting player.

Serious neck injury

Was he perhaps underappreciated throughout the O’Driscoll years? “I don’t think he wants it, to be honest. He’s never been that type of guy. We lost George Lowe for a year with a serious neck injury and it was only when that selfless type of person is gone that you realise what he does within a squad. That’s Darce.

“People talked about Brian’s skill level but Darce has every little bit of skill he had. I bracket them the same – two phenomenal rugby players.

“I consider myself lucky to be around to witness the birth. It took him a few more years for Gordon to come through but the fact he is still going shows the unbelievable competitor that he is.

“People think he is laid back but you can’t be laid back and survive this long at the elite level. No way.”