RUGBY: MAGNERS LEAGUE FINAL:PRIOR TO the Heineken Cup final, Leo Cullen spoke about being more nervous with the passing years.
One presumes the tag of favouritism added to the law of diminishing opportunities for the Leinster captain and his fellow veterans a week ago. This week though, the shoe is perhaps on the other foot.
Not only is Munster’s need arguably the greater, but so too the pressure on them to deliver a Magners League title on home soil, in part to atone for their unusually premature Euro exit. By contrast, Leinster’s season can be deemed an unqualified success regardless of the outcome in tomorrow’s eagerly-anticipated climax to the 2010-11 season at Thomond Park.
“I got the sense we were favourites last week going into that game,” said Cullen yesterday, “and with that expectation comes a lot of nervousness, from my point of view anyway. This week is still nervous but different. I kind of see us as underdogs going down there.”
The bookies actually make Leinster marginal favourites, but the point remains. “We are going down to give it our best shot and that’s the way Northampton went into the game (last week), with nothing to lose, especially after getting beaten in the semis the week before. You could see that in the way they played, they went after everything. We were pretty cold getting out of the blocks so it almost feels like a reverse situation this weekend.”
On their last visit to Thomond Park in early April, Leinster let slip a 20-9 lead when Munster recovered to win an epic arm wrestle by 24-23, thanks to seven penalties by Ronan O’Gara and one by Paul Warwick. The lesson from that night, for the newly-crowned European champions, remain fairly clear cut, namely that in rugby – unlike football – it’s trickier to just park the bus.
“When you have a bit of a lead you have to keep playing,” said Cullen. “It is just too hard to shut up shop against any of these top-quality teams. Northampton were probably guilty of it. It is an instinctive reaction and we probably did it ourselves (when) 11 (points) in front. The last 10 to 12 minutes we didn’t play at all. Ten or 12 points isn’t that much although it sounds a lot. If you shut up shop and the other team are going hell for leather in a nothing-to-lose situation that can change very quickly.”
As he confirmed yesterday, Leinster coach Joe Schmidt was always liable to make two or three changes, if only to freshen things up, as he did when making thee changes from the Heineken Cup semi-final line-up when meeting Ulster in the league semi-final a week later. One of those has been enforced on him already, while another has probably been averted, with the news Gordon D’Arcy has been ruled out with an ankle injury he sustained last week, while Isaac Boss is very doubtful.
Schmidt was always likely to find room for Fergus McFadden, and he looks set to start inside Brian O’Driscoll (who trained twice this week and looks set to start) while it would be no surprise to see Heinke van der Meuwe rotate starting places with Cian Healy at loosehead.
Furthermore, one imagines Shane Jennings will start, and Schmidt mightn’t stop there.
In part, this would be a “reward for performances” but also, D’Arcy and Rob Kearney apart, Schmidt has the welcome headache of otherwise having a fully fit squad – after 32 competitive games and Test demands, it is a remarkable tribute to Leinster’s fitness and conditioning and rehab staff, their rotational selections and, as Schmidt said yesterday, the players’ professionalism.
“It’s a really positive puzzle. There’s a fair bit of head scratching amongst the coaches sometimes making decisions and I’d be the first to admit we don’t get them all right, but we try to balance them on merit, performance and opportunity and also keeping balance in what we need within the 15 who start and the guys who can offer from the bench.”
While the squad showed signs of fatigue in Tuesday’s training, there was a sharpness and sense of expectation yesterday, with the Leinster coach hopeful his team can emulate their second-half performance in Cardiff. “With respect to Northampton, I couldn’t see Munster ever giving us as many opportunities as Northampton did. Especially at Thomond Park, Munster will have a lot more resolve and will be tougher to break down than Northampton. They tired and there was cumulative fatigue from a few weeks gone by. But I can’t see Munster offering us that sort of opportunity to really attack.”
Schmidt also rejected the notion put forth in England that the Magners League is inferior to the Premiership, citing Ulster’s brand of rugby against Northampton, how his own side toppled Saracens (twice) and Leicester (as well as Northampton), and how Perpignan qualified ahead of Leicester in their pool.
“So when you look at the top English sides, maybe they are overstating the Aviva Premiership. I think it’s a very good competition but I wouldn’t put it ahead of the Top 14 or the Magners League.”
Continuing that theme, he rejected the suggestion the provincial rivalries are confined to Munster and Leinster, pointing to the way the Irish Under-20s are comprised mostly of Ulster and Leinster players, and admitting: “They have the bulk of the players in the team, therefore, maybe Ulster are the coming team in Ireland. I think that is a real strength when you got a rivalry of three maybe four, as Connacht gain momentum in the Heineken Cup as well.”
For which Connacht owe Leinster a debt courtesy. “Eric (Elwood) texted me before the game and said good luck. I got one after just saying that was really good luck. I think it is great that Connacht get that opportunity.”
